uncovered
by lovethyneighbor
Summary: "He knew that it was wrong. That he had a girlfriend. But he didn't care. All he cared about was that her lips were so soft and she tasted like cherries and that this just felt so right even though it should have been so wrong." FR, AU
1. Prologue

**Hello! Okay, so this just the prologue and it's really short because it's a prologue lol but I'll post the first chapter later today. And so you won't have a super long boring AN at the beginning of this, I'll just shut up now and do the proper introduction to this story later. Also, please don't laugh at my pathetic attempt at setting the mood lol **

**Kthxbye :)**

* * *

**Uncovered**

**PROLOGUE:**

_Sunday, September 30, 2012_

The mood was a somber one that chilly Sunday morning. Usually people would be dressed in all types of bright colors, laughing, smiling, while they waited for the church services to begin. That morning though? Everyone was dressed in black. People's faces were solemn. Some had tears silently streaming down their faces, some had eyebrows that were pinched together as they tried to stop the tears from coming, and some even had to step out because the sound of their sobs was too loud. Some people didn't have any feeling towards the matter at all. They were just there to be there. This was the event of the year.

"I didn't know her that well. She asked me for a pencil once though. I never did see that pencil again. It's a damn shame too 'cause it was my favorite," a teenager sitting in the back of the church told the old lady that was sitting next to her. "Oh why am I here if I didn't have any emotional attachment to her? Easy. It's _Quinn Fabray's _funeral. No one would miss that."

The church was packed to with people. From family, to close friends, to not so close friends, to enemies, anyone who once knew Quinn Fabray was there. And in the front row? Quinn's immediate family, of course, and then the two next most important people in her life, Rachel Berry and Finn Hudson.

Rachel had been Quinn's best friend for five and a half long and complicated years. Their friendship hadn't exactly been bunnies and puppies and rainbows, they had both done some pretty vicious things to each other, but at the end of the day, Quinn had been her closest friend. Quinn had helped her when she needed it, even if her motives were totally selfish. A lot of people thought Rachel was crazy for being so upset about Quinn's death. Quinn treated you like crap, they would say. She totally didn't deserve your friendship and she definitely doesn't deserve your tears. Even despite that though, Rachel couldn't say that she was glad that Quinn was gone. But she also couldn't say that she wasn't sort of relieved.

Finn had been Quinn's boyfriend of two years. For a long time, Finn had been really happy in their relationship. She had been his first serious girlfriend. It was his first relationship that didn't just consist of holding hands in the hallways and calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend just so that you could say that you had a boyfriend or a girlfriend. He had loved Quinn. She was beautiful, smart, she knew how to have a good time, and he thought he was the luckiest guy in the world to be able to call her his. But that was before he began to realize just how manipulative and cold his girlfriend really was. And how easily those lies just rolled off of her tongue. Just like Rachel, he couldn't help but be upset about Quinn's death. He did still care about her, after all. But he was also glad that he would no longer have to deal with those green eyes of hers always staring at him, watching his every move, waiting for him to screw up so that she could yell at him and accuse him of not loving her like he should.

As the service went on, Rachel couldn't help it. The tears came. She couldn't believe that Quinn was no longer in her life. It felt like this huge, empty void that could never be filled again. She felt Finn squeeze her hand. She looked over at him and saw the small, but reassuring smile that he gave her. She would get through this. They all would.

And although she was upset, Rachel also couldn't help but be amused at all these people standing up, talking about how amazing Quinn was. How smart, kind, and caring she was. Yeah, Quinn was amazing. On the surface. But when you really got to know her, you'd quickly see just the type of person she really was. Someone who would do whatever it took to get what she wanted. She could be a real two-faced, back-stabbing bitch at times. One minute she could make you feel like you're the best of friends and the next, she's ruining your life. It's almost poetic justice the way she died. By being stabbed in the back.

Irony. Isn't it a lovely thing?

* * *

**Good? Bad? Should I just stop while I'm ahead? LOL let me know please! 3**


	2. PART 1

**Hello again!  
**

**Okay, so I promise that all of the Author's Notes won't be as long as this one (unless its absolutely necessary :P) but I need to explain how this story is structured.  
**

**By now, I hope you've figured out that Quinn was murdered (oh no!). This story isn't really a murder mystery, although it does have hints of that especially in part 2, so if you're not into that, rest assured. Also, the real good Finchelness doesn't come until later in the story so you have to be patient. That's not to say that there isn't any Finchel goodness in the first half either so...**

**But anyway. Here is how the story is laid out. I didn't write this in order, I kind of skipped around (and tbh I'm not finished yet although I do know who the killer is mwahahaha).**

**Prologue: Quinn's funeral**

**Part 1: Week before Quinn's death**

**Part 2: Aftermath of Quinn's death  
**

**Part 3: Summer while Quinn was away**

**Part 4: Quinn's killer is revealed and the aftermath of that  
**

**Epilogue**

**So, as you can see, the story kind of jumps around a bit. Well, not really, its kind of just like there is a reallyyyy long flashback inserted into the middle of the story but still. I hope it doesn't get too confusing. **

**This story doesn't really have chapters, it's separated by days, but I put the date at the top of each section so you know where we are at in the story.**

**Hope you enjoy it!**

******CAUTION: Many times during this story you might want to fling Finn and/or Rachel off of a tall cliff. But we all have our moments of pure stupidity, right?**

******DISCLAIMER - I don't own Glee or its characters. **

* * *

**uncovered**

**PART 1: **

_Saturday, September 15__th__, 2012_

It was 10 in the morning and Rachel had just finished her daily morning work out routine. During the week she got up at 5 to do her routine, but on the weekends she allowed herself a couple hours to sleep in. She was in the kitchen drinking a much deserved glass of freshly squeezed orange juice that her dads had left out for her before they left to go on their golfing trip.

She picked up her glass to have another sip of her juice when her phone started ringing. When she saw who was calling, she let out a frustrated sigh and rolled her eyes. "What does she want now?" she asked herself irritably. "Can't I just drink my juice in peace?"

She reluctantly pressed the 'talk' button and then put it on speaker since her dads weren't in the house. "Rachel Berry speaking."

"Rachel! How are you, darling?" Quinn asked in a cheery voice. "I know I didn't wake you up since you get up at ungodly hours to exercise; I admire you for that, by the way."

"Quinn!" Rachel exclaimed in an equally as cheery voice. She mentally thanked her dads for signing her up for the acting lessons that she had been taking since she was 6 years old. They really helped in times like these. "I am fabulous, thank you for asking. How about you?"

"I'm fine, Rachie, but that's not what I called to talk to you about," Quinn said, calling Rachel by the pet name that she hated. It made her feel like she was five. And she was not five. Time and time again, Rachel asked Quinn to not call her that, but of course Quinn didn't listen. Quinn does what Quinn wants to do. After a while, Rachel just let it go.

"I totally forgot to tell you this last night, but Santana is throwing a party tonight, at Brittany's place of course since Santana's sorry excuse for a house is in no way acceptable to throw a party at, and we are invited!"

Rachel laughed. "Aren't we always?"

"You know it! A party isn't a party unless Quinn and Rachel are there!" Quinn exclaimed. She cleared her throat. "Anyway, you're coming with, right?"

"Sure, Quinn. Can't wait." _I love how you asked me that as if I had a choice. You'd drag me there even if I was on my deathbed. _She mocked the sound of Quinn's voice_. "We have to keep up appearances, Rachie! I can't show up at a party without my best friend!" Bitch._

Quinn cheered. "Fabulous! I'll pick you up at 8, okay?"

"That's fine. I'll see you later, Quinn."

"Bye, Rachie!"

Rachel sighed as she ended the call and laid her phone back down on the table. Being Quinn's best friend was so exhausting. But it's not like she could just stop. Not only would she feel terrible for Quinn, it's not like there were many other people that would put up with her crap, at least not many other people who were worthy of being in Quinn's "inner circle", but Quinn would make her life hell if she ditched her. Quinn didn't like being not wanted. Plus, she felt loyal to Quinn. It was because of Quinn that Rachel was where she was.

Rachel had lived in Lima, Ohio her whole life. And for most of it, she was picked on, ridiculed, and the butt of everyone's jokes. When she was little, she didn't have many friends because she had two gay dads. The parents of the other kids didn't want their children going over to her house in fear that they would be "infected" by the gay disease. Her best friends ended up being music and dance and her dreams of moving to New York one day and starring on Broadway. Since she was fairly isolated as a child, save for one or two friends that never really lasted long, her social skills were severely underdeveloped. And as she got older, she was less concerned on the latest fashion and makeup and gossip and more concerned on perfecting her talent. She dressed in animal sweaters, knee socks, and penny loafers. And sometimes she wore pants suits. Pants suits! She had really bad skin. She had thick, unruly hair that was a pain to take care of so she usually ended up just putting it in a ponytail. Her nose was bigger than normal. Those were just a few of the things that alienated people from her. And then there was also the fact that her personality wasn't too welcoming either. All she talked about was how she was too good for Lima. How she was going to move to New York as soon as she was old enough and become this huge star. People thought it was obnoxious how she always signed her name with a star at the end. Rachel thought it was clever. The star was a metaphor for the star that she was clearly destined to be. And metaphors are important. Still, no one was exactly lining up to be crazy Rachel Berry's best friend.

But that all changed when Quinn came into town.

Quinn had moved to Lima in the summer after seventh grade year. She was tall, blonde, beautiful, and her daddy? Filthy rich. He had become the new CEO of a new company whose headquarters were in Lima, so they had to move there. Everyone wanted to either be her best friend or her boyfriend. But Quinn wasn't going to just be best friends with anybody. No, they had to worthy of her friendship. So, she spent her first week in Lima, scoping out possible candidates. She didn't want anybody that was already super popular because they would be harder to control. She wanted somebody that had the potential to be an 'it' girl like they called it back at her old school, but also somebody who didn't have many friends that they could turn against her if needed. And then she met Rachel. Rachel was perfect. All she needed was a makeover. A huge makeover. And some lessons on how to act around people. So she took Rachel under her wing. Pretty soon, Rachel's wardrobe morphed from some crazy toddler/grandmother hybrid mix to sexy schoolgirl chic. Get rid of the animal sweaters, add short, schoolgirl skirts, keep the knee socks, and trade the penny loafers in for a nice pair of pumps. Her hair went from thick, curly, and unruly to straight and silky smooth. She took Rachel to her dermatologist, the best dermatologist in town, to get her acne problem fixed. By the time Rachel returned to school in the fall of eighth grade, she was like a mini Quinn. And they had been best friends ever since.

Rachel hadn't always been this annoyed by Quinn, but she was tired of always doing what Quinn told her to do. And she also hated the fact that Quinn was so evil to other people, people who reminded her of herself back in middle school, back when she had no idea who Quinn Fabray was, and she hated the fact that she didn't do anything about it because she was afraid that Quinn would refocus her wrath on her. No one wanted to be Quinn's target. She could ruin your life with the snap of a finger.

* * *

Finn was in the middle of a deep sleep when he was awakened by the shrill ringing of his cell phone. He really needed to get a proper ringtone. "Urgh," he grumbled as he rolled over to pick up his phone off of the night stand. "Hello?" he asked, his voice groggy with sleep.

"Hey baby," Quinn purred. "You sound so sexy when you're half asleep."

Finn pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it incredulously. _What the hell? It's like 10 in the morning. Shouldn't she be asleep? _"Hi babe. Why are you calling me so early?"

"Do you not want to talk to me or something? Can't I just call my boyfriend because I want to hear his voice? I thought you loved me," Quinn answered, the anger evident in her voice.

Finn sighed. He hated it when Quinn got like this. Every time he said something that she didn't like, even if he wasn't even aware of it, she'd get angry and start blaming stuff on him and questioning his love for her.

Before, he ignored it. He just blamed all of her sudden mood swings on the fact that she was a girl.

Now, he wasn't so naïve. He knew that it wasn't all girls. It was just how Quinn was. And that annoyed him.

"Quinn, you know that I love you," he told her.

"It doesn't seem like it."

Finn rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry, babe. I am just really tired."

"So tired that you can't even talk to your girlfriend of three years?!" Quinn exclaimed.

"I'm sorry," Finn repeated.

Quinn let out a sigh. "Okay, fine. I forgive you. But to make it up to me, you have to come with me to Santana's party tonight."

"Quinn…" Finn started, "Do I really have to go? You're just gonna spend the whole night with Rachel anyway."

"Finn, you are my boyfriend. People would talk if we didn't show up together," Quinn told him. "Tell Puck to come. You can hang out with him."

"Fine."

"Oh, and after you pick me up, we have to pick up Rachel as well," Quinn added.

Finn frowned. "I…uh…doesn't she have a car? Why can't she drive herself?" He didn't really want to be stuck in his truck with both Rachel and Quinn.

Before, it wouldn't have bothered him, but now? It'd be all kinds of awkward.

"I promised her that'd I pick her up. She'll be expecting me," Quinn told him.

Finn rolled his eyes. "Why the hell did you do that if you were just gonna make me drag you to the party?"

"Finn," Quinn snapped. "If spending time with me is such a pain…"

_There is no 'if'. Spending time with you __**is **__such a pain. _Finn sighed in defeat. "Okay, fine. What time do you want me to come get you?"

"Can you pick me up at 8?"

"Sure."

"Thanks, baby! I'll talk to you later!" Quinn blew him a kiss over the phone and then hung up.

Finn tossed his phone back on the nightstand. He groaned. "Fuck," he cursed and then rolled over and tried to fall back asleep.

* * *

Rachel was standing in front of her mirror, finishing the last touches to her hair and makeup when Quinn waltzed into her room, without knocking.

"Hey Rachie!" she exclaimed as she sat down on Rachel's bed.

"Hi Quinn," Rachel said in a lackluster tone, forgetting to hide her disappointment in seeing her supposed best friend. Not that it mattered. Quinn didn't even notice.

"So, I forgot to tell you this, but my car is in the shop right now," Quinn started.

Rachel turned to look at her. "Really? What happened?"

"Some idiot wasn't paying attention," Quinn said. "Anyway, Finn is outside waiting for us. He wasn't even planning on going out tonight, but he loves me so much that he's willing to rearrange his plans. Isn't he sweet?"

Rachel ignored the pang of longing that shot through her at the sound of Finn's name. "Yep. The sweetest," she replied.

Quinn sighed contently. "I am so lucky that he's mine," she said. "Anyway, yeah, Finn is outside so you might want to hurry up. He's being so nice and thoughtful driving us to the party. We shouldn't make him have to sit outside all by himself for too long."

"You can go and keep him company," Rachel told her. "I'll be down in a minute."

Quinn smiled. "Thanks Rachie. See you in a few!" she replied and then left the room.

Rachel sighed. "What am I going to do?" she asked to herself. _All I have to do is survive the rest of this school year and then I'm out of Lima for good. And then I can forget all about Quinn and Finn and the pain that they both have caused me. _She sat there in her room for a few more minutes, mentally preparing herself for the night ahead, and then grabbed her purse, took one last look in the mirror, and headed downstairs.

* * *

Finn let out a frustrated sigh as he waited in Rachel's driveway. _Why me? What did I do to deserve this? _He was so busy thinking of ways that he could avoid any awkward situations with Rachel without Quinn noticing the weirdness that he didn't notice Quinn walking back to his truck.

She opened the door and then scooted all the way in so that she was pressed up against Finn's side. She kissed his cheek. "Rachel said she'll be down in a few minutes," she said in a low voice.

Finn had to refrain himself from gagging at the smell of his girlfriend's breath. It was so strong. _What the hell did she do? Down a whole bottle of Listerine while she was in there? _"Cool."

Quinn frowned at his lack of a response. _G-d, he is such an idiot. How is he not getting the hint that I want to make out? _She kissed him again. Just under his earlobe.

He just sat there.

When he didn't respond, she took his face in her hands and turned it so that she could press her mouth against his.

"Quinn…" Finn started. "What are you doing?"

"Um, kissing my boyfriend?" She leaned in for another kiss.

Finn pulled his head back. "Yeah, I get that," he said. "But Rachel is coming…isn't it kind of rude to kiss in front of her?"

"Why does it matter, Finn? Rachel is no stranger to our PDA."

Finn just stared at her.

Quinn let out an impatient sigh. "Is she here right now?" she asked.

"No…"

"Exactly. Now shut up and kiss me."

Finn didn't really want to risk Rachel coming down and finding him and Quinn with their faces attached to each other, but he also didn't want Quinn to start whining about how her boyfriend doesn't want to kiss her. Which he guessed was kinda true. He just wasn't as into Quinn as he used to be.

* * *

Rachel took one last look in the mirror, grabbed her purse, and then headed downstairs. She said a quick goodbye to her dads and then walked outside to Finn's truck.

As she got closer to his truck, she could see Finn and Quinn making out through the windshield. Quinn was practically in his lap and it looked like they were sucking each other's faces off. "Really?" she asked in disbelief. She took a deep breath and then walked over to the truck and tapped on the window.

Finn jumped at the sound and hit his head on the top of the truck. "Ow!" He looked out of the window and when he saw Rachel, his heart leaped in his chest. "Oh." _Crap._

Quinn looked out of the window at Rachel, and Rachel could have sworn that she saw a triumphant smile on her face before it quickly went away.

They all stared at each other for a couple of seconds. Finn and Quinn staring at Rachel from the inside of the car, and Rachel staring at Quinn from the outside, trying to make sense of the look that had passed across Quinn's face.

Finally, Quinn turned around to look back at Finn. "Unlock the door," she ordered.

"Oh. Right," Finn said, snapping out of his reverie.

"You two just can't keep your hands off of each other, can't you?" Rachel asked as she climbed into the backseat.

"Sorry," Finn mumbled, looking down.

"Don't apologize, Finn," Quinn snapped. She looked back at Rachel. "Rachie, I know that the last boyfriend you had was that Jesse guy last year, but you don't have to take your bitterness out on us. We are in love. We shouldn't have to censor ourselves."

Rachel opened her mouth to retort, but decided against it. "Sorry."

"Its okay, Rachie. I forgive you," Quinn said and then turned to Finn. "Babe, you can drive now."

Finn nodded and then pulled out of Rachel's driveway.

* * *

When they arrived at the party, Quinn grabbed onto Finn's hand so that they could walk into the house together, with Rachel trailing behind them. She couldn't help but shoot daggers at the blonde's back. Quinn made her sick. How she managed to friends with her all those years, she did not know. Well, actually, she did know. She loved the feeling of being respected. She loved the feeling of knowing that there were girls who wanted to be like her and guys who wanted to be with her. Not that she'd ever been in a serious (emotional or physical) relationship with anyone. She had made out with a few boys, at parties like the one she was currently at, but never had it went any farther than that. And she'd had a couple of boyfriends since eighth grade, but they never lasted that long. They were all boys that Quinn set her up with and she didn't have any real feelings for them. The only one that she had truly liked was Jesse and he ended up breaking her heart. And Quinn never hesitated to bring that up."Rachie," she would say. "I told you that that Jesse guy was no good for you. See, this is what happens when you pick a guy to date without my input. You end up with your heart broken."But at least Rachel had actually enjoyed the time that she and Jesse were together. Being with all those other guys was a total bore and she hated it. And she hated Quinn controlling every aspect of her life.

For a while, Rachel had thought that once again, she had managed to find a guy on her own. A guy that she had really strong feelings for. A guy that wouldn't end up breaking her heart. She should have known better. The only reason things were going well was because Quinn had been away. And as soon as Quinn came back, things would go back to exactly the way they were before.

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**What'd you think? :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A couple more things you might want to know: There is a tiny bit, like blink and you miss it, of Klaine in this story (wayyyy later though). Also, I ship Pucktana (as a crack ship of course...Quick is my real otp for my bb Puck). So Santana isn't a lesbian in this story. It's not that I have anything against homosexuals; I just like Pucktana. So it's in here. Don't like it? Don't read. Please don't send me hate. It's not even like its a lot. This _is _a Finchel story.  
**

**I know that things might be a little confusing, but you'll get more answers as the story moves along.**

**And thank you for the reviews, favorites, and follows! I hope I don't disappoint! :)**

**DISCLAIMER - I don't own Glee or its characters. **

* * *

**uncovered**

_Monday, September 17, 2012_

Rachel was walking down the hallways at school, so focused on her thoughts, that she didn't notice Finn walking towards her, also caught up in his thoughts, and they collided into each other.

"Crap," he said. "I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention." He bent down and picked up the papers that she had dropped and handed them back to her.

"Obviously," Rachel snapped as she took the papers from him. She wasn't in the mood to deal with Finn. Talking to him just brought up memories that she didn't want to deal with.

"Rachel…" he started.

Rachel held up a hand. "Finn, I really don't feel like talking to you, right now, so if you don't mind…" She started to walk around him but he moved back in front of her. She glared up at him. "Finn! I don't have time to play games. Get out of my way."

"Are you ever going to talk to me again, Rach?" Finn asked.

Both Rachel's head and her heart started hurting when she heard his nickname for her. "I'm talking to you right now," she told him. "And don't call me Rach." And with that, she walked away.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Quinn was at Finn's house, and they were lying in his bed, watching a movie that Finn had no idea the name of. Quinn loved it, though, and he didn't want to upset her by suggesting that they watch something that he wanted to watch for a change, so they watched it.

Finn could tell Quinn was distracted and he wondered how long it would take before she started whining at him. She'd stick her bottom lip out and stare up at him with those green eyes of hers. He used to think it was adorable. Now he just found it annoying.

"Baby…" Quinn pouted. "I think Rachie is mad at me."

Finn resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Of course Rachel was mad at her. She'd been mad at Quinn ever since she got back from Florida. "Why don't you talk to her?"

"Finn, I'm not an idiot. You don't think I've tried that?" Quinn asked, her tone of voice totally changing.

See, that was the thing about Quinn. One moment she could be all sweet and innocent, and the next she could be all angry and scary, and you'd have no warning to when it would happen.

"I know you're not an idiot, Quinn," Finn replied. "But still, Rachel's a pretty stubborn person, right? You just gotta keep trying."

Quinn nodded. "You're right," she said. She smiled and kissed him under his jaw. "You're such a good boyfriend."

Finn felt sick. _Yeah. The best._

"Quinn, don't you just wanna watch the movie?" Finn asked. "You'll miss it if you keep talking."

But Quinn already had different ideas. She climbed on top of Finn so that she was straddling his hips. "Would you rather watch the movie or have sex?" she asked and then proceeded to shove her tongue down his throat.

Finn gently pushed her back. "Babe, I'm kinda tired…"

Quinn got off of him and crossed her arms over her chest. "Finn, what the hell is your problem? You've barely touched me since I got back from Florida. Do you not find me sexy anymore?"

"Quinn, you know you're sexy," Finn told her. "I'm just…not in the mood for sex right now."

"Right," Quinn snapped.

"Quinn, I'm sorry, I just—" Finn tried to apologize, but Quinn cut him off.

"Nope," she said, holding up a hand. "I don't want to hear it." She got up off the bed and slipped back into her shoes.

"Where are you going?" Finn asked.

"I'm leaving," Quinn answered. "Clearly I am not wanted here. And I don't like being places where I am not wanted. So goodbye." She turned to leave, but then turned back and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll call you later. Love you, Finny!" she said cheerfully and then left the room.

Finn just stared after her, confused at what had just happened.

* * *

Rachel was at a local Starbucks, waiting for Quinn to arrive. Quinn had texted her about an hour earlier saying that they needed to talk and to meet her at Starbucks at 4. It was 4:45. Rachel let out a sigh and was just about to get up and leave when Quinn slid into the seat across from her.

"Hey Rachie!" she exclaimed, a bright smile on her face.

Rachel just stared at her. "You do realize that you're almost an hour late, right? I've been waiting here for an hour. What the hell."

"I know, I know," Quinn said. "I am sooooo sorry. I was in the middle of something and I guess I totally forgot the time."

"What were you doing?"

Quinn waved a dismissive hand. "Oh, you know, making love to my boyfriend."

"…"

"What?"

Rachel felt like she was about to throw up and then she wanted to punch herself for feeling that way. Finn and Quinn were together. They'd been together for two years. It's not like the fact that they were engaging in sexual intercourse was a surprise to her. Quinn had made sure to tell her right after it happened for the first time one and a half years earlier. And Rachel had been excited for Quinn then.

She sent a fake smile across the table to her best friend. "Nothing. Everything's fine."

Quinn narrowed her eyes. "What is your problem, Rachel? I always tell you about my sex life and you always pay rapt attention to it. You live vicariously through me. Ever since I got back from Florida, you've been acting all weird." She gasped. "Awww, I know. Is it because you're upset that you haven't lost your virginity yet?"

Rachel couldn't help it. She giggled. Quinn had no idea. Nooo idea.

"And I don't even know why. There are a long list of guys that would be willing to deflower you," Quinn continued, not even noticing Rachel's amusement.

Of course. Quinn only ever paid attention to herself.

"Quinn, I'm not going to give myself to just anybody," Rachel told her.

"It's just sex, Rachel," Quinn replied. "And if you keep being so picky, you're never gonna be deflowered. You'll be old and wrinkly and still have your virginity."

Rachel was tired of Quinn always talking down to her, treating her like she was inferior. "I already lost my virginity," she blurted out, just to get Quinn to stop talking.

Quinn stared at her, her mouth gaping open, and then she laughed. "Excuse me, what?

Rachel's eyes widened. _Oh g-d. Why did I say that? _"Um…nothing. I didn't say anything."

"Yes, you did. And I could have sworn I just heard you say that you lost your virginity."

Rachel didn't say anything, afraid of how Quinn was going to react. She was being oddly quiet.

Finally, a slow smile spread across her face. She squealed. "Oh my goodness, Rachel Barbra Berry is no longer a virgin!"

Rachel quickly looked around the cafe. It was frequented a lot by the students at McKinley High and she really didn't want rumors flying around the school about Rachel Berry finally having her cherry popped. "What the hell, Quinn? Do you have to be so loud?"

"Ooops. Sorry," Quinn said. "I'm just excited."

Rachel sent her a wary look. "You're not mad I didn't tell you?"

"Of course I'm mad, silly!" Quinn replied, but she was smiling.

Rachel couldn't help but smile back. It was times like these where she remembered why she became such good friends with Quinn in the first place. She remembered all those sleepovers where they'd talk about anything and everything (but mostly boys) and how they'd always be giggling and laughing and have to quiet each other down. Suddenly, Rachel got sad. She missed those days. When they got to tenth grade and Quinn became the head Cheerio and consequently the most popular girl in school, things changed.

"Rachel?"

"Sorry," Rachel said. She had been so caught up in her thoughts that she hadn't heard Quinn talking to her. "What was the question?"

"When did it happen? Who did it happen with? Sam? I knew you liked him!"

Rachel laughed. "No, not Sam," she told Quinn. "And it was over the summer."

"Ooooh a summer romance. How romantic," Quinn gushed. "Who was it then if it wasn't Sam? Mike? No, Mike's dating that freak who's friends with Finn's loser of a brother. Oh, I know! Puckerman! Of course. He's been trying to get in your pants for the longest."

"Ew, Noah? He is so not my type."

"I think that you and Puck would be so cute together," Quinn continued. "I mean, just look at the way that you call him Noah. It's adorable! And he pretends like he hates it, but everyone knows that he secretly loves it."

"Um, no, he really does hate it," Rachel interjected, but Quinn ignored her.

"And you and Puck dating would be perfect!" she exclaimed. "I mean, think about it. You and I are best friends. Finn and Puck are best friends. We'd have the best double dates…"

"Small problem with that, Quinn. I have no feelings towards Noah. At all."

"…and of course, I'd have to do something about Santana. She thinks she has some sort of claim over Puckerman just because they hook up every once and a while—"

"Quinn!"

Quinn looked at her. "What?"

"I don't like Noah," Rachel told her. "And besides, I didn't sleep with him. It was a guy I met at the ice cream shop."

"Ice cream shop? You're a vegan, Rachel."

Rachel resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "They sell sorbet too, Quinn."

"What's his name?"

"Doesn't matter. You wouldn't know him," Rachel said quickly.

"How would I not know him, Rachel?" Quinn asked. "I know everybody."

"You wouldn't know him because he doesn't live here, Quinn," Rachel lied. "He was staying in Lima for the summer. You were gone the whole summer."

"Oh," Quinn said. She pouted. "Do you have a picture of him?"

"Nope."

"How do you not have a picture of him, Rachel?" Quinn asked. "Do you not want to remember your steamy summer romance?"

"Um, no, not really."

Quinn stared at her like she had grown a second head. "Why not?"

"Because it didn't really end that well."

"Oh," Quinn replied and then shrugged. "Well, like you said, he was going back to wherever he came from at the end of the summer anyway. Its better that you guys ended things badly. Easier for you to move on."

"Right…"

* * *

**So who do you think is the guy that Rachel was with over the summer? ;) LOL  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Oh my gosh. Thank all of you so much for reviewing. It's so nice to see what other people think of my writing :) And to M (you're were anonymous so I couldn't send you a PM sorry), thank you so much. I'm glad you like my story. And don't worry, your english is great :) **

**So... I hope you all like this chapter!**

**DISCLAIMER - I don't own Glee or its characters.**

* * *

**uncovered**

_Tuesday, September 18, 2012_

Rachel was standing at her locker, getting the things that she needed for the school day when Finn walked up to her and leaned against the adjacent one. "Finn, I told you to leave me alone."

"I can't just leave you alone, Rachel," Finn said. "Especially not since my friends are your friends and we all do everything together. I can't take any more awkward lunches. It's bad for my digestion."

Rachel just scowled at him in response.

"Rach, please…" Finn begged.

Rachel closed her locker and looked up at him. "Finn, what do you want me to do? I can barely stand looking at you, let alone talk to you. Like, right now? I am _this close _to shoving my textbook against your face. So unless you want to walk around with a broken nose, I'd advise you to leave me alone."

"We should talk about what happened. It's the only way to get through this," Finn persisted.

"I don't want to talk about what happened, Finn," Rachel told him. "In fact, I'd rather pretend that what happened never happened and then just leave it at that, okay?"

"Rachel…"

"Where's Quinn?"

Finn shrugged. "I don't know. How the hell I am supposed to know?"

"Well she seems to always be glued to your side, so…"

Finn smirked. "You seem jealous."

Rachel laughed humorlessly. "Really? Well, I'm not."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

"Well, I was jealous when I saw Joe talking to you at that party on Friday."

"Joe's a sophomore. I couldn't date him even if I wanted to. It would be 'bad for my rep'," Rachel told him and then bit her lip. There she went again, letting her bitterness towards Quinn show.

"So?" Finn asked. "He was talking to you. Making you laugh. You looked happy. I wish I could make you happy again."

Rachel looked up at him. His eyes were so sincere, and warm, and she missed him. She missed him so much. "Finn…" she started, but then saw Quinn walking up to them out of the corner of her eye. She shook her head to regain her focus. "I have to go. So if you'll excuse me…"

Finn watched her as she walked away; wondering what is was that she had started to tell him_. _He didn't even notice Quinn next to him until she wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a kiss on him. "Hey Finny."

"Finny?"

"Yeah, do you like it?" Quinn asked. "It's kind of like Rachie, you know. Rachie and Finny. My two favorite people."

Finn frowned. "Yeah… It's great."

Truth was that he hated it. But there was no way in hell he was gonna say that to Quinn.

* * *

Santana stood across the hallway with a smirk on her face. She had seen the whole exchange between Finn and Rachel. And now she knew exactly what she was going to do to get Berry out of the way. Before Quinn came, Santana used to make fun of Rachel all the time. And she hated the fact that now she was expected to answer to Rachel. Not like Rachel abused that power. Like, she was the nicest popular person that Santana had ever seen. It made her sick.

And once she got Rachel out of the way, then she could work on Quinn.

* * *

"So, there's another party this weekend. Wanna go?" Quinn asked Rachel at lunch. Usually, they sat with Finn and Puck and all the other Cheerios and football players, but Rachel didn't feel like dealing with Finn staring at her all lunch period so she asked Quinn if they could eat lunch in the courtyard that day.

"Quinn, can't we just have one weekend where we don't go out partying? Why don't you just come over to my house and we can watch sappy movies and eat junk food and gossip about our love lives like we used to?" Rachel asked back.

"Ew, Berry. Did we time travel back to the seventh grade?" Santana said with a laugh.

Rachel glared at her. She hated the fact that Quinn had invited Santana and Brittany to eat lunch with them as well. Brittany was a nice enough person, kind of dim though, but Santana? Santana made Rachel want to gauge her eyes out with a rusty spoon. "Santana, shut up. No one was talking to you."

Santana just stared back at her, not intimidated at all. "Listen, Hobbit, you do realize that the only reason why you are sitting here is because Quinn felt bad for your sorry ass back in middle school, right? You should be grateful that you're even invited to these parties. Stop being such a baby."

"San…" Quinn said in a warning tone.

Santana sent her a sweet smile. "Sorry, Q."

"It's fine," Quinn said and then gasped. "Oh yeah did Rachel tell you guys? She's officially devirginized!"

Rachel glared at her. "Quinn!"

Brittany squealed. "Really? Shut up that's awesome!"

Santana just examined her nails, seemingly uninterested. "It's about time."

"Who's the lucky guy?" Brittany asked.

"She met him at the ice-cream shop over the summer," Quinn answered. "Speaking of which, do you know of any guys that were visiting little ole Lima for the summer? Rachel won't tell me who this guy is because I won't know him but I at least want some details."

"Who the fuck willingly comes to Lima? If this guy really was visiting here, which I doubt, he's clearly an idiot," Santana replied.

"What do you mean you doubt?" Quinn asked. "You think Rachel is lying? She would never lie to me."

"I'm not saying that she's lying about not being a virgin anymore, Quinn, I'm just saying that maybe the reason she doesn't want to tell you about this mystery guy she gave it up to over the summer because she knows that you wouldn't approve," Santana answered.

Rachel stood up abruptly. "It's okay, you guys can continue discussing my sex life as if I'm not even here," she said. "I'm not that hungry anymore anyway." She sent them a quick smile and then hurried away.

As she walked down the halls, she caught eye contact with Kurt Hummel, Finn's step brother. She sent him a sad smile, but Kurt just scowled and hurried past her, not saying a word. A pang of guilt came over her and she struggled to fight back tears. When did her life become so complicated?

* * *

**Let me know what you think! :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's another update! lol, I already have the chapters written which is why I am able to update so fast, but let me know if you want me to slow down haha **

**And for those who want to know more about Finn and Rachel and what happened between them, don't worry. Wait til part 3 (part 1 is almost done and part 2 is super short so yeahhh patience, young grasshoppers :p That is why I'm updating so fast. Once I get to part 3, the updates will slow down (plus that's where I stopped writing so I have to finish the story lol)**

**Hope you like it!**

**DISCLAIMER - I don't own Glee or its characters.**

* * *

**uncovered**

_Wednesday, September 19, 2012_

Quinn and Rachel were standing at their lockers before school when Noah Puckerman walked up to them. He leaned on the locker that was on the other side of Quinn's. "Hello ladies…" he said with a sexy smirk on his face. "You look smashing today."

Quinn giggled and pushed him lightly on the shoulder. "You are such a dork," she said and then turned back towards Rachel. "Isn't he a dork?"

Rachel just stared at the both of them in disbelief. _What is going on? _Puck never went out of his way to come talk to them. If he did talk to them, it was usually because they were with Finn. And sometimes he came to talk to Rachel, but that was always to try and convince her to go out with him. But today it seemed like even though he was talking to the both of them, he only had eyes for Quinn. And Quinn was usually annoyed by Puck. Now she was giggling and flirting with him? Weird.

She had to talk to Santana or Brittany about this. If anything was going on, they would know about it.

"Hey Quinn? I actually have to go talk to Mr. Schuester about that test we took last week so I'll see you in homeroom," Rachel said, but neither Quinn nor Puck even heard a word that she said. She rolled her eyes and then walked away.

* * *

It took her a while, but she finally found Santana in the courtyard talking with a few of the other Cheerios.

"Hi girls!" she exclaimed.

"Hey Rachel!" they chorused back.

Santana just rolled her eyes. "What do you want, Berry?"

"I need to talk to you about something."

"Ugh. No thanks."

"Santana," Rachel said, annoyance creeping into her voice. "Could you please set aside your hate for me and just listen to what I have to say?"

"Okay, fine. What do you want?"

Rachel opened her mouth to talk, but then glanced at the Cheerios who were staring at them, hanging on every word that was exchanged. She grabbed Santana's arm and pulled her into a deserted area.

"Ow, what the hell, Hobbit!" Santana complained as she yanked her arm back. "You are strong for someone so freaking tiny."

Rachel ignored her. "Something weird is going on between Quinn and Noah," she said. "They're, like, talking to each other. Willingly. And Quinn's not getting annoyed by him which is really strange. And Noah isn't hitting on me, which is even stranger."

Santana waved a dismissive hand. "Oh, they're banging each other. You didn't know?"

Rachel's mouth dropped open. "What?" she asked in disbelief. "Quinn told you that?"

"She didn't have to," Santana replied. "It's so obvious that even a blind person could see it."

"Santana, you can't just go around making up rumors like that…" Rachel warned.

Santana stared at her incredulously. "Who said it's a rumor?"

"Um, it's a rumor because it's not confirmed. You have no proof that Quinn and Noah are engaging in sexual intercourse," Rachel replied.

"I don't need proof, Berry. You can just tell by the way that they act around each other. I mean, did you see them at lunch yesterday? The longing glances, the secret smiles… You can practically _smell _their attraction towards each other. It quite sickening, to be honest," Santana told her.

Rachel just looked at her in response.

Santana sighed. "Okay, fine. Maybe they're not banging. But I bet you at the least they've shared a kiss."

"And that doesn't bother you at all?" Rachel asked. "Quinn has a boyfriend! And that boyfriend is Noah's best friend! Don't you see how terrible this whole thing is?" She frowned at the smile that Santana was giving her. "What?" she snapped.

Santana's smile widened. "Oh, nothing. I just find really interesting how…passionate you feel about this whole situation."

"Quinn's my best friend," Rachel said. "And Finn's my friend too. I care about him."

"I'm sure you do."

Rachel narrowed her eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'll let you figure that one out yourself, Rachel," Santana said and then sighed. "Are we done here?"

"You think that Quinn is cheating on Finn and you have no feelings about that at all?" Rachel asked.

"Berry, if it bothers you that much, why don't you ask Quinn about it?" Santana asked back. "Get from all up in my grill. Damn."

"And risk her freaking out on me for suggesting that she is cheating on Finn? With Noah, no less?" Rachel asked and then laughed. "No thanks."

"Just tell her that I'm the one who brought it up," Santana suggested. "Make it sound like you think the whole thing is hilarious. Be like, oh my gosh, ha ha Santana told me the funniest thing today."

"That could work…" Rachel replied thoughtfully. She smiled. "Thanks, Santana."

"Yeah, yeah. Can I go now?"

Rachel nodded, satisfied. "Sure."

After Santana was gone, Rachel frowned to herself. Was Santana right? Was Quinn really cheating on Finn? With _Noah_? How could Noah do that to his best friend? And then she frowned even more. This whole situation was feeling oddly familiar…

* * *

After Cheerios practice, Quinn and Rachel headed over to Quinn's house to hang out.

"So," Rachel said while they shared a bowl of raspberry sorbet. "Why aren't you with Finn? You usually hang out with him after school."

Quinn shrugged. "He's been acting really weird lately. I'd much rather hang out with my loyal best friend than be stuck in a room with him and his weird mood swings."

Rachel had to hide an amused smile. _She's one to talk about weird mood swings… _"I've noticed that you've been kind of friendly with Noah lately. It's weird. You used to be so annoyed by him and now you're laughing at his stupid and extremely inappropriate jokes."

"He's actually a really sweet guy, Rachie…" Quinn said. "That's why I said that you two should date. He's not as bad as I thought. And now that he has the Quinn Fabray mark of approval, I think that you should totally go for him."

"Yeah, too bad he doesn't seem to be that interested in me anymore," Rachel said, making sure to note Quinn's reaction to her words. "I guess even guys like him get tired of the chase sometimes."

"Oh, really?" Quinn said, seeming like she was really interested in her spoon. "That's a shame. He's so cute."

"Would you date him if you weren't with Finn?" Rachel asked.

Quinn's eyes flashed with anger. "I am with Finn so that's kind of an irrelevant question, don't you think?" she snapped.

"Okay, okay. I know that, Quinn. It was just a question," Rachel replied.

Quinn sighed. "Sorry, Rachie. I just…it feels like there has been something wrong with our relationship ever since school started and it's a really sensitive topic for me."

Rachel felt a twinge of guilt, but she ignored it. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Quinn said. "But, um, I have to ask. Why all the questions about me and Puckerman?"

"Oh. I, uh, it's really funny, actually," Rachel said with a nervous laugh. "San and I were talking and she told me that she totally thinks that you and Puck are, like, hooking up behind Finn's back. Crazy, right?"

Quinn narrowed her eyes. "Santana's spreading rumors about me?"

"What? No!" Rachel said hurriedly. "It was just the two of us talking so nobody heard. And besides, I don't think she was serious or anything. You know how Santana is."

"Yeah. I do know how Santana is."

"Really, Quinn. I don't think you have anything to worry about," Rachel said.

Quinn just stared down at the bowl of sorbet, lost in her thoughts.

* * *

**Things are going to start getting interesting soon mwahaha lol hope you liked it!**


	6. Chapter 6

**So. Um. Apparently there are two Wednesday, September 19ths? LOL idk how that happened. Sorry!  
**

**I really like this chapter, though. I hope you do too.**

**DISCLAIMER - I don't own Glee or its characters.**

* * *

**uncovered**

_Wednesday, September 19, 2012_

"Aw, isn't that adorable?" Quinn whispered to Rachel during homeroom.

Rachel sent her a questioning look. "Isn't what adorable?"

Quinn pointed over to where Lauren Zizes, the only female on the McKinley High wresting team, was sitting. "She's totally crushing on Puck."

Rachel looked over at Lauren, who was writing something down in her notebook. "How do you know she likes Noah?" She was worried. She could just tell that Quinn had something up her sleeve and she wasn't sure that she liked it.

"It's so obvious," Quinn said. "I bet you that she's doodling Mr. and Mrs. Puckerman all over that notebook of hers right now. Or maybe writing the twentieth version of a love letter that she's never going to send." She sighed wistfully. "Aw, people like her are so adorable. And pathetic. Pathetically adorable."

Rachel just frowned in response. People like her? Rachel used to be like Lauren. Well, not a female wrestler that everyone was afraid of, but she used to be an outcast. Misunderstood. She used to doodle hearts with her crushes' name in _her _notebook. She used to write love letters that she'd never send because she knew that the guy would just laugh in her face. And why wouldn't he? No one wanted to date crazy Rachel Berry.

"I should talk to her," Quinn said, yanking Rachel out of her thoughts.

"Talk to who?"

Quinn sent her an irritated look. "Zizes," she said. "Try and keep up, will you?"

"Sorry," Rachel apologized. "But why do you want to talk to Lauren?"

"Look at her, Rachie," Quinn said. "So pathetic and lonely and sad and so totally crushing on a guy that she'll never have. I just want to make her feel a little better that's all. Think of it as my random act of kindness for the week. I'll invite her over to my house and maybe even give her a little makeover; she definitely needs it. It'll be fun. You can join us too if you'd like."

"I don't know…" Rachel started.

"It's okay. I understand your reservations about spending long periods of time with someone like her. You're afraid you'll catch the loser bug. But don't worry, Rachie. You've already had it before so it's like your immune system already recognizes it and it can take care of it before you start to succumb to the disease. And you have me to make sure you never fall into that deep, dark hole of despair again. Think of me as your vaccination." She grinned. "That was a damn good analogy, wasn't it? Huh. Maybe that class wasn't such a waste after all."

Rachel opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by Finn walking in the classroom and taking his seat on the other side of Quinn. She watched as Quinn leaned over and gave him a kiss on the lips and then proceeded to roll her eyes as the teacher yelled at her for public displays of affection while in class.

"Hey Finny," Quinn said once the teacher moved her attention elsewhere. "Where were you?"

"I was just talking to Coach Beiste about something," Finn replied.

"Oh. Well, I missed you," Quinn told him.

Finn just nodded and then started to search for something in his bag.

Quinn glared at him. "Finn," she said in a stern tone.

"What do you want now?" Finn asked, his voice laced with annoyance.

A look of hurt came across Quinn's face. "You know what? Never mind. It doesn't matter."

Finn's eyes softened and he reached for her hand, but she yanked it away. "Quinn, I'm sorry," he said. "I'm running on like four hours of sleep and I'm starving and those stupid hockey guys pissed me off again and I just…I'm sorry."

"Whatever," Quinn said with a stony tone.

Finn sighed and he ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up in many different directions. Rachel wanted to slap herself for thinking that he looked cute.

"Why are you staring at my boyfriend, Rachel?" Quinn asked.

"What?" Rachel asked back. "I'm not staring at your boyfriend."

Finn looked up at her then, and she quickly looked away.

"Whatever," Quinn said and then stood up. "I'm gonna go talk to Lauren."

Finn had a confused look on his face as he watched Quinn walked away. "Since when do she and Lauren talk?" he asked Rachel. "And since when does she call her Lauren? She's always called her Zizes. Are they like friends now or something?"

Rachel just shrugged. "You know how Quinn is," she told him.

* * *

At lunch, things were even more awkward than they had usually been for the last couple of weeks. Not only was there tension between Finn and Rachel, but Quinn was sending dirty looks in Santana's direction every so often, and Santana was just sitting there with an amused look on her face. And Puck kept glancing over at Quinn, with what looked to be longing. It was weirding everyone out.

"Okay, Q, spit it out," Santana finally said. "What'd I do now?"

"You know what you did, Lopez," Quinn replied.

Santana just laughed. "Clearly I don't, Fabray, or I wouldn't be asking. And since when are we on a last name basis? I thought we were friends."

"I thought we were too."

Santana leaned over towards Quinn. "Quinn, if you have something to say to me, just say it already. This whole beating around the bush thing is really starting to piss me off. You see, where I come from, we keep it real."

"Real? Just like those boobs of yours?"

Puck laughed as his eyes immediately went to Santana's chest. "She does have some awesome knockers."

Santana sent him a smile. "Aw, thank you, Puckerman," she said and ran a hand over his cheek. "You're such a sweetheart."

Quinn's eyes flashed as she turned to Puck. "Puck, I'd think that you of all people can tell when someone's boobs are fake."

Everyone at the table gasped.

Quinn laughed. "Are you guys really that surprised? I mean, really. Someone doesn't just magically grow two cup sizes over the summer."

"Where would Santana find the money for a boob job?" one of the Cheerios asked. "You know her family is, like, poor and stuff." She glanced at Santana. "No offense."

Another Cheerio gasped. "Maybe she's a secret prostitute."

"I am _not _a prostitute, you dumbass," Santana snapped and turned to the first Cheerio. "And offense taken. I am not poor. Just because my family doesn't have money coming out of their ass like Quinn's 'daddy' does doesn't mean that I'm poor."

Brittany turned to Santana. "Did you really get a boob job, San?" she asked.

"Of course she got a boob job," Quinn said. "And hello? Like she just pointed out, Daddy has plenty of money. She got the money from me."

"Santana, why didn't you tell me?" Brittany asked. "I could've gotten one with you. We do everything together."

Santana just scowled at her and then turned to Quinn. "Okay, fine. I got a boob job. Is it such a crime that I wanted bigger boobs? It's better than getting a nose job like the one you got before you came here to Lima. At least I'm happy with my face."

"Excuse me?" Quinn asked. "Are you insinuating that my nose isn't real?"

"Yes I am," Santana asked and then turned to everyone at the table. "I mean, no one has a nose _that _perfect. At least not without a little help."

"Can you guys calm down please?" Rachel asked, but no one was listening to her.

"You are such a bitch!" Quinn shrieked.

Santana just laughed in response. "Takes one to know one."

"Quinn, that was really mean," Brittany said. "Be nice."

"It's okay, Brit. She's just mad because I know about her dirty little secret and she's paranoid about Finn finding out," Santana told her.

Quinn turned to Finn, who was watching all of this with wide eyes. "Finn, I did not get a nose job. My nose is 100% real, okay?"

Santana laughed. "Those lies just come so easily to you, don't they?" she said. "And by the way, I wasn't talking about the nose job. I doubt he cares that much. Although, before you came rolling into town, he definitely had a preference for the more natural type. I was talking about your _other _dirty little secret. And I bet anything that once he finally dumps your ass, he'll revert back to his old ways. Don't you think, Rachel?"

Rachel stared at her in horror. "Please don't bring me into this, Santana."

Brittany gasped. "There's another secret?"

Quinn glared at Santana. "Would you shut up?"

"No, I think that people have the right to know what other extracurricular activities you've been up to lately," Santana said and sent a meaningful look over to Puck, who was starting to put the pieces together.

"Santana…" Puck warned, casting a furtive glance over at Finn, who was still confused.

"Santana, please don't do this," Rachel begged. "At least not here in the middle of the lunchroom where everybody can hear."

"Oh you mean like how Quinn just did about my boobs?" Santana asked.

"And how you did about her nose job?" Rachel asked back.

"So she _did _get a nose job!" Brittany exclaimed.

Quinn turned to Rachel. "Rachel!" she shrieked.

Santana just sat there, laughing.

"I'm glad you find this so amusing, Santana," Quinn said.

"I'm glad I do too."

"Seriously, what the hell is going on?" Finn finally asked. "I am so confused. Santana's boobs are fake, Quinn's nose is fake, and apparently Quinn has another secret that she's not telling me about?"

"Your girlfriend has been fooling around with your best friend behind your back," Santana told him bluntly. "And sorry for just throwing it out there like that, but I'm getting bored with this conversation."

Everyone at the table let out another collective gasp.

Quinn let out a nervous laugh. "Santana, you are seriously insane. Why the hell would I be with Puck when I have a perfectly fine boyfriend of my own?" she asked.

"Because your boyfriend hasn't been giving you any since like May, that's why," Santana answered.

"Finn, are you okay?" Rachel asked Finn worriedly. "You don't look so good."

"Of course he's not okay, Berry," Santana said. "He just found out what a whore is girlfriend is."

Quinn whirled on Santana. "_I'm _a whore? You, the girl who's slept with pretty much everyone at this damn school, is calling _me _a whore?" She turned to Finn. "Finn! Aren't you going to defend me?"

Finally, Finn looked up. "You want me to defend you?" he asked incredulously. "You cheated on me! With my best friend! What the fuck, Quinn?"

"She's lying, Finny. She clearly is jealous of me so she is trying to ruin my life," Quinn told him.

Finn turned to Puck. "Is she lying?"

Puck didn't say anything.

Finn's eyes flashed and he stood up. "Answer the damn question, Puckerman! Did you or did you not sleep with my girlfriend?"

"I did," Puck said quietly.

"_Puck!_" Quinn wailed, tears starting to form in her eyes.

Finn turned to Quinn. He opened his mouth to say something, but then decided against it. He didn't want to say something that he would regret. He walked away instead.

"How'd you know?" Puck asked Santana.

Santana laughed. "How'd I know? It's so obvious. You two are like cats in heat. Even Berry noticed, but of course she's too afraid of her supposed best friend to say anything. And I'm sure the only reason Finn didn't notice is because he's too busy trying to not to stare at Rachel with hearts in his eyes and failing epically. Ugh, the four of you disgust me."

* * *

Finn was in his room, lying face-down on his bed, trying to make sense of what had happened at lunch. After he'd left the cafeteria, he'd got in his truck and left the school, not coming back. He just couldn't look at Quinn without wanting to cry and he couldn't look at Puck without wanting to punch him in the face. He was surprised that he felt this hurt about Quinn cheating on him. It's not like he loved her anymore. He hadn't felt that way about her for a while. But still, being cheated on? It hurt. And he also knew that he was being a hypocrite about the whole situation, but whatever.

He took out his phone to call Rachel, he really needed to talk to her, but was stopped by a knock on his door. "I'm not hungry, Mom!" he yelled.

The door opened and he was surprised to see Quinn standing there, a sheepish look on her face. "Hi."

Finn stood up. "What are you doing here?"

Quinn walked over to him. "Finn, I was going to tell you about Puck and I. I really was. Carrying around this secret, it's been eating me up inside. I felt so bad. I just…I didn't want you to hate me," she said.

Finn sighed. "I don't hate you, Quinn." How could he?

"I know and I love you for that," Quinn replied. "You don't hate me even though you should."

Finn could feel the guilt starting to come and he had to bite the inside of his cheek, hard, to keep from spilling the truth to Quinn. He couldn't do that to Rachel.

"We're not over, are we?" Quinn asked quietly, looking up at him.

"What?"

"You're not going to break up with me, right?"

Finn was caught off guard. He realized that he hadn't even thought about breaking up with her, which was weird. "I…Quinn, you were sleeping with Puck. You just expect me to be okay with that?"

"I was not 'sleeping' with Puck," Quinn said. "It was one time. It happened Saturday night at Santana and Brittany's party. And it was a huge mistake."

"Why'd you do it?" Finn asked.

Quinn sighed and sat on the edge of his bed. "I was lonely. I mean, ever since I've come back from Florida, our relationship hasn't been the same. We used to be so happy, Finn. I don't know what happened."

"Why didn't you just break up with me if you're unhappy? Why cheat on me?" Finn asked, feeling more and more like a hypocrite.

"Because I love you, Finn!" Quinn exclaimed. "I wanted things to work out. I figured it was just a rough patch and we'd get over it. But then we didn't and I was at that party and you weren't paying any attention to me, you kept staring at Rachel for some reason, and then I had a couple drinks so I didn't have the best judgment and somehow Puck and I ended up in an empty room and things just went downhill from there. I hated myself for the longest after that. I still do. I hate that I hurt you."

"I don't know, Quinn…" Finn started.

Suddenly, Quinn's whole demeanor changed. "Finn, don't do this. Don't ruin the best thing that you have ever had just because I made a mistake. You'll never have anyone as amazing as me, Finn, and you need to realize that."

Finn stared at her in shock. _Whoa. Scary Quinn. _"Quinn…"

Quinn wrapped her arms around his neck and captured his lips in a gentle kiss. "I love you, Finn. So much."

Finn was quiet as he tried to figure out how to respond. He didn't really want to be with her, he hadn't for a while, and was just too afraid to break up with her himself. So this was the perfect way out for him. But then he'd also feel like a complete hypocrite for breaking up with her over the same thing that he did that she had no idea about. Finally, he said, "I love you too."

Quinn smiled, an actual real smile, one that lit up her face and suddenly Finn remembered why he fell in love with her in the first place. It made him sick.

"Oh, and I think it would be best if you stay away from Rachel."

Finn stared at her in shock. "What? Why?" _It's not like we talk much these days anyway.._

Quinn shrugged. "You don't want to give her the wrong impression."

"What the hell are you talking about, Quinn?"

Quinn laughed as she played with the tiny hairs on the back of his neck. "I think she may have a little crush on you. Understandable, of course. I mean, you're an amazing guy. And she has this little problem where she wants everything that I have. Anyway, you don't want to give her any reason to believe that she might have a chance with you. Because she doesn't."

* * *

**So. This is where Finn kinda starts pissing me off, lol. I didn't even realize that I made him so annoying until I went back and read what I had written so far. Ooops.**


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm sorry that there is so little Finchel so far. But, that will begin to change, I think, in the chapter after the next one. Again, I am so sorry. Especially if it's totally turning you off from this story :(  
**

**DISCLAIMER - I don't own Glee or its characters.**

* * *

**uncovered**

_Thursday, September 20, 2012_

Rachel was in the cafeteria before school, eating a fruit salad and working on some homework that she needed to finish up when Santana slid into the seat across from her. Rachel gave her a wary look. "Um, hi?"

Santana smiled. "Hey Rachel, how's it going?"

"What do you want, Santana?" Rachel asked.

Santana laughed. "Why do you think I want something?' she asked back.

"Because you don't willingly talk to me unless you want something."

Santana gasped dramatically. "I resent that accusation," she said and then leaned in close. "So, did Finn break up with Quinn yet?"

Rachel shrugged.

"Really?" Santana asked, genuinely surprised. "I'd think that Quinn would have called you, tears streaming from her eyes as she scarfed down a pint of Chunky Monkey. Well, that's if she actually cared about Finn for reasons other than his status at this school but still."

"Well, she didn't," Rachel answered. "And I really don't know the state of their relationship at this point in time so..."

"Aren't you curious though? I mean, once Finn's free of Quinn then you can go for him," Santana said.

"I am not interested in Finn."

Santana laughed. "Yeah, okay."

"Why does it matter to you if Finn breaks up with Quinn or not?" Rachel asked.

"It doesn't."

"Then why are you bothering me about it?"

"Just trying to make conversation."

"Well, I don't really feel like talking so…"

Santana stood up. "Fine. I didn't want to talk to you anyway," she said and then walked away.

Rachel just stared after her in confusion. "That was weird."

"Ew, what did she want?" Quinn asked as she slid into the seat next to Rachel.

"Oh. Hi Quinn," Rachel said.

Quinn smiled at her. "Hey Rachie."

Rachel narrowed her eyes at Quinn. "Why do you seem so happy?"

"Am I not allowed to be happy?" Quinn asked with a smile.

"I just thought you'd be more upset about your breakup with Finn," Rachel told her.

Quinn laughed. "Finn and I didn't break up. Our love is strong enough to handle a minor setback like this."

Rachel's mouth dropped. "Minor?" she asked in disbelief. "You slept with Noah."

"And Finn forgave me for that."

"Just like that?" Rachel asked. "You totally betrayed his trust."

"Rachie, it's like you want Finn and I to be over," Quinn observed. She narrowed her eyes. "Do you want Finn and I to be over?"

"What? No! Of course not."

"Good," Quinn smiled. "Because we're gonna be together forever."

* * *

"Q!" Santana exclaimed as she walked up to Quinn before Cheerios practice.

Quinn scowled at her. "Santana."

"So, listen, I am so happy that you and Finn decided to stay together even though you're a lying, cheating whore."

"Santana, I really don't have time for this."

Santana ignored her. "And I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am about blabbing my big mouth in front of everybody at lunch yesterday," she continued.

"Well I accept your apology. Life's too short to hold grudges," Quinn responded. "And besides, once Finn and I walked into school today holding hands with happy smiles on our faces, everyone forgot about that little tisk at lunch yesterday so it's all good. You know the people at our school. Short attention spans and no long term memories at all. They're like goldfish."

Santana smiled. "I like the way you think, Fabray." She shrugged. "You know, I was just trying to keep it real. Finn's my friend and I didn't think it was fair of you to hide this from him."

Quinn nodded. "You're right and I respect you for that."

"And you know…you're my friend too, Q."

"I am," Quinn agreed, confused on where Santana was going with this.

"And I don't think it's fair of him to hide things from you especially considering the way he reacted to the news that you were hiding something from him," Santana said.

"That's a good point."

"And I definitely don't think its right for Berry to keep things from you either. Especially since she calls herself your best friend," Santana continued.

Quinn's eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about, Santana?"

Santana grinned. "I think you should know just what really happened this summer while you were gone."

* * *

Rachel was freaking out. Something had been off all Cheerios practice. Quinn kept sending her dirty looks and Santana was just watching the both of them with this evil grin on her face.

After practice, Rachel was inside of her car, about to head home, when Quinn opened the door and slid into the passenger seat.

Rachel stared at her surprise. "Quinn?" she asked. "What are you doing here? Isn't Finn taking you home?"

"I know that you were with Finn over the summer," Quinn said in a measured voice.

Rachel felt like she was about to throw up. "What? No-no I wasn't," she protested, but she knew it was no use. She should have known that the secret was going to get out sooner or later. Apparently Santana had some radar for knowing when two people have slept together and Finn and Rachel had been sending out weird vibes for weeks. And when Santana knows something, it was bound to come out someday.

"Don't lie to me, Rachel!" Quinn yelled, making Rachel jump in her seat.

Tears started to fall from Rachel's eyes. "Okay, fine. We were together while you were gone."

Quinn shook her head. "I don't know why I didn't put the pieces together sooner. Finn loves the ice cream shop. He practically lives there. Of course you would have run into him. And then there's the fact that you always want everything that I have. It was only a matter of time before you would start going after my boyfriend too."

"Quinn, you don't deserve Finn," Rachel said in a shaky voice.

"And you do?" Quinn asked in response. She laughed. "Wow, Rachel. Listen, the only reason why Finn would even consider being with you is because he was lonely and missing me. And I don't blame him. I was in Florida, and really busy, and barely had any time to call him. It's understandable that he would want some companionship. I'd rather it be with his friends and not a girl, and especially not you, but still." She stared at Rachel, who was still crying, and shook her head. "How could you? You're supposed to be my best friend."

"Best friend?" Rachel asked in disbelief. "You hate me!"

"I don't hate you, Rachie. I am just not particularly fond of you. I liked you better when you were ugly and didn't have any friends. You were much easier to control then," Quinn told her. "Rachel, don't forget that I am the reason that you have the life that you have right now."

Rachel shook her head in disbelief. "I'm glad that things are finally getting out in the open now," she said. "You know, if you were wondering why Finn would ever cheat on you, that's why. You're a bitch."

Quinn laughed. "Maybe," she replied. "But guess what? He still picked me over you. I cheated on him and he _still _picked me over you."

Rachel could feel another round of tears coming. "Get out," she said in a shaky voice.

"Rachel…" Quinn started.

"Get. Out!" Rachel yelled.

Quinn stared at her. "Fine," she said and then got out, slamming the door behind her.

* * *

"I am really good at this ruining relationships thing that I do," Santana said to Brittany, as they sat in a booth at Starbucks, both sipping on caramel mochas.

"Is that a good thing though?" Brittany asked.

"Of course it is," Santana answered. "Watching friendships and relationships implode is what I find entertaining. And Quinn, Finn, and Rachel just make it so damn easy."

* * *

Finn and Quinn were hanging out in Finn's living room.

"I was serious when I said that you need to stay away from Rachel," Quinn said to Finn, who was scarfing down a grilled cheese sandwich as he watched a football game.

"Why do you keep talking about Rachel every time we're together?" Finn asked. "It's getting kind of annoying." _Plus, its making me feel really damn guilty. _

"Because she's trying to ruin our relationship!" Quinn exclaimed.

Finn stared at her like she had grown a second head. "What the hell are you going on about?" It seemed like she was trying to do the exact opposite, to him.

"Finn, we almost broke up yesterday," Quinn reminded him.

"Yes and what does that have to do with Rachel?" Finn asked. He was so confused.

"Everything, Finn! It has everything to do with her!"

"…I still don't understand."

"Are you really that much of an idiot, Finn?" Quinn snapped. "I am not stupid. I know that you spent the summer with her while I was gone."

Finn felt like he was about to reunite with the grilled cheese that he just finished eating.

"I'm right, aren't I? You slept with Rachel while I was in Florida?" Quinn asked.

Finn didn't say anything.

"Finn!"

"Okay, fine. Yes, I slept with Rachel," Finn said, bracing himself for the inevitable freak-out that Quinn was about to unleash on him.

Quinn was quiet for a while and then she lifted her head to look up at her boyfriend. "I forgive you."

Finn stared at her in shock. "You–what?"

"I forgive you," Quinn repeated. "Plus, now I don't feel so bad about having sex with Puckerman. You cheated on me too. Seems like we have both been keeping things from each other."

Finn shook his head in disbelief. "You know, Santana's right. You really are a good liar."

"What?" Quinn asked.

"You've never really loved me," Finn told her. "You've been lying this whole time."

"That bull and you know it."

"No it's not, Quinn!" Finn yelled. "Everyone knows that the only reason you are with me is because I do wonders for your stupid reputation. You were already popular, but dating the quarterback? That'd just put you over the top."

"That's not true. I do love you," Quinn protested.

Finn laughed bitterly. "Quinn, you wanted me to tell you the truth about Rachel just so that you wouldn't feel so damn guilty about sleeping with Puck. Do you even care that I fucking _cheated_ on you? That had I sex with your _best friend_?"

"Of course I do, Finn."

"It sure as hell doesn't seem like it."

"Well I'm sorry, Finn!" Quinn wailed, tears streaming down her face. "I am sorry that I am not that great at showing how I really feel! I am sorry that I don't wear my feelings on my sleeve like Rachel does!"

Finn stared at her in shock. _Crap. She's crying now? _"Quinn…"

"Do you want to know why I slept with Puck? I slept with him because I was lonely and he was there. Ever since I've been back, you haven't been the same. And I know its because you have feelings for Rachel," Quinn told him. She took in a deep breath as she tried to stop the tears. "I'm not mad at you though. I understand why you did it. I was away and you were lonely. And Rachel was there. Taking advantage of the fact that I was gone. Slut."

Finn didn't like the way that she was talking about Rachel. "She's your best friend, Quinn."

Quinn just laughed in response.

_Friday, September 21, 2012_

Rachel felt like crap. She didn't go to school that day because she didn't feel like seeing Finn and Quinn and her phone kept vibrating with messages from all of her friends asking where she was. It was times like these when she missed the old days when no one cared if she was at school or not. She just wanted to be left alone.

She had just rolled over on her side to try and fall back asleep when she heard the doorbell to her house ring. She wrinkled her nose in confusion as she got up and walked downstairs to go answer the door. She peered through the peep hole and frowned when she saw Quinn standing there. "What the hell?" she asked herself and then opened the door.

Quinn smiled at her. "Hey Rachie!" she exclaimed as she let herself into the house and handed Rachel a muffin and a bottle of orange juice. "Why weren't you at school today? I brought you some breakfast. I guess it would be considered brunch now though. Are you sick?"

"Um, no," Rachel told her. "I just didn't feel like going to school."

"Oh. Well we all have those days. Everyone's worried about you though," Quinn said as she sat down on the couch and turned on the television.

Rachel sent her a wary look. "Are you okay, Quinn?"

"Of course I am!" Quinn smiled at her. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I slept with your boyfriend."

"And I slept with his best friend," Quinn told her. "Seems like we've all been naughty lately."

"Quinn, you seemed pretty pissed off yesterday," Rachel pointed out.

"I was just caught off guard," Quinn replied. "Never would I think that Rachel Berry would be the type to sleep with a taken man."

"Yeah, me neither," Rachel said as she sat down next to Quinn. "So, you're not mad?"

"Nope," Quinn replied. "Life's too short to be mad at the people we care about the most."

"So you and Finn are still together?"

Quinn's eyes flashed with anger, but then she laughed. "Of course we are, Rachie. It would be pretty hypocritical of me to break up with him over the same exact thing that I did. He slept with my best friend and I slept with his best friend. It evens out."

Rachel stared at her in disbelief. "Um, okay."

"We're still best friends though, right Rachie?" Quinn asked. "I would hate to lose you."

Rachel was so confused. She had spent the previous night wondering what would happen when she and Quinn saw each other again and not once did she imagine this happening. Quinn was so unpredictable. She should be cursing Rachel's name right now, not asking her if they're still gonna be best friends. And she felt terrible about this, but she had actually been sort of relieved that she would possibly no longer have Quinn's friendship. Yes, Quinn would hate her, and no one wanted to be hated by Quinn Fabray, but at least she wouldn't have to deal with Quinn's craziness anymore. "Of course, Quinn."

Quinn wrapped her arms around Rachel and pulled her in for a hug. "I'm so glad, Rachie."

Rachel smiled weakly. "Me too."

"So," Quinn said when they pulled apart. "Zizes is coming over to my house tomorrow night. Do you want to join us?"

"What exactly are you and Lauren going to do?" Rachel asked.

Quinn laughed. "You're acting like I am planning some horrible joke on her or something."

"Aren't you?"

Quinn gasped dramatically. "Rachel!" she exclaimed. "Do you not know me at all?"

"Um, Quinn, I know you very well," Rachel told her. "That's why I'm worried."

"You worry too much," Quinn replied. "That's why you never have any fun."

"Just don't traumatize Lauren too much, okay? She's a really nice girl," Rachel said.

"And how would you know that, Rachel?" Quinn asked. "It's not like you hang out with her or anything."

"Let's just say that before you came into my life, Quinn, she was one of the only people that didn't laugh every time I walked into a room," Rachel answered.

"Rachel, people change. She could be a total bitch now," Quinn said.

"And she could also still be a really nice, albeit slightly scary person," Rachel countered.

Quinn sighed. "Let's not fight about this," she suggested.

Rachel hesitated, but then nodded. "Okay."

Quinn sent her a smile. "Good," she said. "So, what do you want to do this lovely afternoon?"

_Saturday, September 22, 2012_

That night, instead of partying like she usually was, Rachel was sitting in her room watching Funny Girl because Quinn decided to take it upon herself to do "something nice" for Lauren. Rachel couldn't even focus on the movie though because she was so worried. Quinn was evil! She couldn't relax while Quinn was most likely doing something terrible to poor Lauren. Not even her favorite movie could help. She just felt so guilty. She had a vague idea of what Quinn was planning and if she didn't do something to stop it, she would never forgive herself.

She sighed and then quickly threw on a hoodie over the sweatpants and tank top that she was wearing, pulled her hair into a ponytail, slipped into her shoes, and then headed downstairs.

Rachel was tired of allowing Quinn to just toy with people's lives like this. Tired of allowing Quinn to toy with _her _life. I mean, just what went on in Quinn's head exactly? Yelling at her about sleeping with Finn one moment and bringing her muffins and orange juice the next? She was going to get whiplash from all the back and forth that Quinn did.

She had to end this. Once and for all.

**END OF PART 1**

* * *

**_DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNN_  
**

**_:)_**


	8. PART 2

**I just want you all to know that I don't really know anything about how murder investigations and stuff go so some of this might not make much sense and seem off lol sorry about that :P  
**

**And wooo there's some Finchel in this chapter! finally lol again sorry about that but don't worry lots more Finchel coming up in the near future **

**DISCLAIMER - I don't own Glee or its characters.**

* * *

**uncovered**

**PART 2:**

_Monday, September 24, 2012_

When Rachel finally walked into school on Monday, all eyes were on her.

Not because the news of her and Finn's secret summer romance had gotten out. Surprisingly Santana had kept her mouth shut. The only people who knew about that were Rachel, Finn, Santana, and Quinn. And Kurt, but as much as she knew that he hated her now, she didn't think he would be the type to spread that rumor. If not for her, then for Finn.

No, it was because Saturday night, at approximately 10:30 PM, Quinn had died.

Quinn Fabray had been _murdered_.

And everyone was wondering how Rachel was handling it.

Some were expecting Rachel to be in tears over it, breaking down every few seconds, unable to concentrate on anything because she had lost her best friend.

Some had expected Rachel to be completely fine. Quinn had treated her terribly, why should Rachel be upset that she's dead? She was now free from Quinn's evil clutches.

Some had just been surprised and some even found it sort of suspicious that Rachel had showed her face in school at all. I mean, her best friend had been murdered two days earlier. School should be the last thing on her mind.

* * *

Rachel was at her locker, getting her things for the day, when Santana and Brittany walked up to her.

"Are you okay, Rachel?" Brittany asked with a look of concern on her face. "You look like death." And she did. Rachel had no make up on, her hair was piled on top of her hair in a sloppy bun, and (gasp!) she was wearing one of her beloved animal sweaters from middle school. This one had an owl on it.

Santana elbowed her lightly in the ribs. "Brit, that was kind of rude. Don't say she looks like death when her best friend just died."

"Oh, right," Brittany said. "Sorry Rachel."

Rachel didn't say anything. She just continued to look through her locker.

Santana and Brittany both stared at her with pitying looks on their faces.

Rachel was getting agitated. People kept staring at her, Santana and Brittany were both standing there looking at her with those stupid looks on their faces, and she couldn't find her Spanish homework. "Damn it, where is it!" she burst out, out of nowhere.

Brittany jumped at the sudden outburst. "Where is what?" she asked.

"My Spanish homework," Rachel answered. "I did it on Thursday during study hall. I could have sworn that I put it in my locker so that it would be here when I had to turn it in today."

"Um, Rachel?" Santana asked quietly.

"What?" Rachel snapped.

Santana looked down, seemingly interested in the ugly white tile of the hallway floor. "You loaned it to Quinn to copy over the weekend, remember?" she mumbled.

Rachel closed her locker door. "Oh." She closed her eyes as another wave of emotion came over her and tried to keep the tears from coming. "Guess I won't be getting credit for the homework then."

"Schue would probably let you off the hook for it," Santana pointed out. "I mean, considering the circumstances, of course."

Rachel nodded. "Yeah. You're right."

"We are sooooo sorry about Quinn, Rachel," Brittany said. "I mean, of course we're upset about her death, we were good friends with her too, but you were her best friend, you must be dying inside."

Santana glared at her. "Brittany!"

"Oh. Ooops."

"I'm fine, Brittany. But thanks for your concern," Rachel said in a quiet voice.

Santana looked at her in disbelief. "Berry, your best friend croaked on Saturday and you expect us to believe that you're fine? Why the hell are you even here right now?"

Rachel's eyes flashed. "Quinn did not _croak_, Santana, she was murdered."

"Rachel…" Santana started, but Rachel was not paying any attention to her.

Rachel had looked up and saw Finn walking straight towards her. As soon as he had reached her, she launched herself into his arms. "Oh, Finn…" she breathed, her words muffled by his jacket.

"Finn, I am so sorry. You must be devastated," Brittany said.

Finn wasn't listening.

"Rach, it'll be okay," he was saying. "Everything will be okay. We'll get through this."

Santana stared at them in disbelief. "Wow, you'd think you two would at least wait a couple weeks to get together."

Rachel pulled away from Finn to send Santana the scariest look that she had ever sent someone. "Finn and I are not 'together'. We both lost someone dear to our hearts and excuse us for wanting to have a little support."

"Yeah, Santana," Finn added. "It's just a hug."

"And could we not do this right now?" Rachel asked. "People are already gawking at me because my best friend was murdered, I don't need them to gawk at me because of that other thing too."

"What other thing?" Brittany asked.

Santana sent Brittany a smile. "Nothing, Brit," she told her. "Let's go get a quick breakfast before homeroom starts. I am starved."

"Okay!" Brittany agreed. She sent Rachel and Finn a tiny wave and a sad smile. "I'll see you guys later."

"See you later," Finn replied.

Rachel just nodded.

Santana waved goodbye and then she and Brittany headed for the cafeteria.

Rachel turned towards Finn. "Why are you at school today?" she asked quietly. "I didn't think you would be."

"I wasn't going to come at first," Finn started, but then stopped when he noticed a group of people standing nearby, straining to hear their conversation. And who wouldn't? I mean, everyone would want to know why the boyfriend and the best friend of the girl who was murdered were talking in hushed voices. Finn grabbed hold of Rachel's hand. "Let's go talk somewhere else."

Rachel nodded in agreement and started to follow Finn down the hall, but not before she sent a quick glare in the eavesdroppers' direction. They quickly looked away, embarrassed, as they should be.

Finally, Finn reached an empty classroom and pulled Rachel into it, closing the door behind them.

"Sorry," he apologized. "I just feel weird talking with everyone staring at me. I mean, I should be used to it, what with dating Quinn and all, but it still makes me uncomfortable."

"Its fine," Rachel told him. "Now what were you saying?"

"Oh, um, I was going to stay home today. I was going to stay home for the next couple days. Not only did I just not feel like coming, but my mom was going to force me to. She thinks I'm fragile right now. My whole family does. They're like walking on eggshells, worried about accidentally saying the wrong thing or something. It's kind of annoying, actually," Finn said.

"But understandable," Rachel replied. "I mean, Quinn was your girlfriend. You were in love with her."

"Rachel…" Finn started.

"You loved her, Finn. Don't try and contradict that just because you feel bad for me," Rachel said. "Now please finish what you were saying."

Finn sighed. "Fine. Well, when you told me that you were coming today, I didn't feel right staying at home. You shouldn't have to deal with this alone."

"I'm fine, Finn," Rachel told him.

Finn looked at her in disbelief. "You're fine, Rachel? Do you really expect me to believe that?"

Rachel opened her mouth, but then closed it when she could feel the tears starting to come. She shook her head and took a shaky breath as she tried to keep herself from crying. "No…" she said in a tiny voice. "I miss her, Finn," she told him and then laughed a little as she wiped away at a few tears that had escaped. "She's gone. Quinn is gone and she's never coming back. Of course I'm not okay."

Finn wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head. "Yeah," he agreed. "I'm not okay either."

* * *

Rachel had just parted ways with Finn and was walking to her first period when Kurt walked up to her.

"Rachel," he said, getting her attention.

Rachel looked at him. "Oh. Hi Kurt."

"I am really sorry about Quinn," Kurt told her. "It must suck, losing your best friend."

Rachel nodded. "Yeah. It does," she said. "Listen, Kurt, about what I said about us not being friends anymore—"

Kurt held up a hand, cutting her off. "Rachel, I'm giving you my condolences because I know how much it sucks losing someone close to you, not because I have any intentions of rekindling our friendship. And sorry if I'm being a bitch, but I felt the need to clarify that."

Rachel shook her head, trying really hard not to cry. "No, no. It's fine."

Kurt sent her a sad smile. "I'll see you around, Rachel," he told her and then walked away.

* * *

"_Attention students!" _said the voice of Principal Figgins over the intercom during the middle of third period. _"Attention students! All seniors need to report to the cafeteria immediately. I repeat, all seniors need to report to the cafeteria immediately. It is extremely imperative that you be there. Seniors that are not there will be noted and I will be in contact with you at a later time. Thank you."_

Santana sent a confused look to Rachel. "What the hell is this about?" she asked.

Rachel just shrugged in response as she gathered up her things and then they headed to the cafeteria like instructed.

* * *

The cafeteria was buzzing with excitement as all the seniors gathered inside. Everyone was wondering what so important that they had to come in the middle of class to talk. Some people weren't that concerned, it was probably just something concerning graduation or other senior stuff. But some thought it had to do with Quinn's murder. Quinn _had_ been a senior, after all.

When Rachel and Santana entered, the room fell quiet and all eyes were on them. Santana glared at them all. "Take a picture, it'll last longer," she snapped and then pulled Rachel over to where Brittany was sitting, saving a table for them.

Rachel sent Santana a wary look. "Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked. "You hate me."

"Quinn is dead," Santana answered. "Things are a little weird right now. Don't worry though, when things get back to normal, I'll definitely be back to my normal bitchy self."

"Excuse me everyone!" said Principal Figgins as he walked to the front of the cafeteria. "As most of you probably know, we have experienced a tragic loss from our student body recently. Saturday night, we lost Quinn Fabray. Please take a moment of silence for her." After a couple seconds, he looked back up. "Anyway, you are all here because Miss Fabray didn't just die, she was murdered. And the culprit still has not been found. Some members from the Lima Police Department are here to talk to you all. Don't freak out. Please keep in mind that none of you are considered suspects yet, they just need to talk to you. Please show our guests respect as well. Once they are done talking to you, then you may head back to class. Thank you."

"Oh man," Santana said as she watched the uniformed officers start spreading themselves around the cafeteria and talking to students. "Shit just got real."

* * *

About two hours later, Principal Figgins released all of the students back to class. Rachel was walking down the hall when she noticed Lauren Zizes standing near one of the water fountains.

Rachel walked over to her. "Hey Lauren," she said with a small smile. "Are you okay? You look kind of freaked out."

"I'm fine," Lauren said quickly, avoiding her eyes.

"I know that you were at Quinn's house on Saturday," Rachel started.

Lauren looked up at her then, fear in her eyes. "I didn't kill her!" she exclaimed.

People who were walking by immediately stopped in their tracks.

Rachel glared at them. "Could you _please _go away?" she asked irritably.

They hurried away.

Rachel sighed and then turned back to Lauren. "I know you didn't kill her, Lauren," she said. "I was just wondering if maybe you had some idea of what happened. Were you there when she was killed? Did you find her body?"

"I left her house at around 8," Lauren said. "Apparently Quinn died sometime around 10. Or at least that's what I heard on the news. I was long gone by then."

Rachel nodded. "Right," she said. "Sorry. I just…I need to know what happened and those officers wouldn't tell me anything."

"You were in the middle of a crowded cafeteria," Lauren pointed out.

Rachel laughed nervously. "Of course."

"Your best friend just died, Rachel," Lauren said. "It's understandable that you might not be thinking correctly."

"Yeah. You're right."

"Why are you even at school, Rachel?" Lauren asked. "People are talking because you're here and you don't look that upset over Quinn's death."

"You think I killed her?" Rachel asked back.

"No."

"Good. You don't need to know my reasons for being here, okay? Stay out of my business."

Lauren held her hands up in defense. "Sorry."

Rachel sighed. "It's fine. I'm just really freaked out right now. My best friend is dead, rumors are flying around about who and how she was killed, and I know that I am in the middle of a lot of them. I didn't kill her though. I could never do that."

* * *

**Hmmm, I wonder what happened between Kurt and Rachel... :) lol **


	9. Chapter 9

**uncovered**

_INTERROGATIONS_

Over the next couple of days, four major people of interest came up in the investigation of Quinn's murder. Finn Hudson, Santana Lopez, Rachel Berry, and Noah Puckerman. Detective Wendy Minh was the head investigator on the case and she had in all four people for questioning.

* * *

"Finn, how are you holding up?" Detective Minh asked Finn as he sat down across from her. "It's okay to cry. You lost a loved one. I understand."

"I'm fine," Finn answered. "Quite honestly, I just want to go home. I don't feel like dealing with this right now. I didn't kill Quinn and I don't know why I am here."

"How long had you and Quinn been dating?" Detective Minh asked, ignoring him.

"What?" Finn asked, confused with the abrupt subject change.

Detective Minh repeated the question.

Finn was about to protest and tell her again that he just wanted to go home, but thought better of it because he didn't want it to seem like he had something to hide. "We started dating the summer before sophomore year so it's a little over two years now," he told her.

"Wow. Two years. That's a long time."

"Yeah."

"Were you in love?"

Finn nodded.

"You don't seem very upset about your girlfriend's death," Detective Minh observed.

Finn glared at her. "Why? Just because I'm not breaking down in tears every couple minutes?" he snapped.

"It was just an observation, Mr. Hudson."

"I didn't kill Quinn."

Detective Minh just pursed her lips and asked, "Just last week you found out that Quinn had been cheating on you with Noah Puckerman, is that correct?"

Finn swallowed hard. "Yes."

"Did that make you angry?"

"Of course it did," Finn answered and then frowned when he realized how that could make him look guilty for the murder.

Detective Minh nodded. "Of course it did," she repeated. "After talking to some of your classmates, I discovered that even though she cheated on you, the two of you did not break up. Care to explain why?"

"Not really."

"Finn, I am trying to make sense of things here," Detective Minh said.

"I don't understand what any of this has to do with Quinn's murder," Finn replied. "Shouldn't you be examining the evidence and stuff? What does the reason why Quinn and I stayed together have to do with her being killed?"

"Where were you Saturday night between 10 and 11 PM?" Detective Minh asked.

"You think I killed her, don't you?" Finn asked back.

"Mr. Hudson, please answer the question."

Finn shook his head in disbelief. He could never kill Quinn! This lady was insane. "I was at home."

"You were at home doing what?"

"Sleeping."

"You're an 18 year old boy with plenty of friends," Detective Minh said. "You expect me to believe that you were sleeping on a Saturday night?"

Finn shrugged. "It's the truth."

"Can anyone confirm that fact?"

"My mom, my stepfather, and my stepbrother," Finn told her.

Detective Minh nodded. "I'll be contacting them."

"I didn't kill Quinn," Finn said. "This is insane. You're insane. Quinn was my girlfriend. I loved her!"

"Loved as in you no longer love her anymore?"

Finn stared at Detective Minh in disbelief. "No, loved as in she's dead now! My girlfriend is dead. She's dead." And for the first time since Quinn had died, he could feel the tears starting to come. "Fuck," he cursed and wiped hurriedly at his eyes.

Detective Minh held out a tissue box. "Here you go."

"Thanks."

* * *

"It is of my understanding that you were close friends with Quinn Fabray. Am I correct?"

Santana shrugged. "Yeah. Q and I were close, I guess. Why?"

"It is also of my understanding that you didn't like her very much," Detective Minh continued. "Is that statement also correct?"

"Okay, who the hell told you that?" Santana asked. "People think I killed her?"

"Miss Lopez, please. Just answer the question."

"Okay, yes, I hated her," Santana told the detective. "But everyone did! She is a bitch. Or she _was _a bitch, I guess. And okay, yeah, I'm kind of a bitch too but at least I own up to that. I keep it real. Say the things that other people are too afraid to."

"What do you mean?" Detective Minh asked.

"You could say that Quinn had a lot of friends, but none of them really liked her. They just pretended to so that they wouldn't be on Quinn's list. If Quinn hated you, then your life at this school is hell."

"She had a list?"

"A mental one, yeah," Santana answered. "No way would she write the names of the people who pissed her off on an actual piece of paper. Not only would that be _a lot _of paper, but she wouldn't risk writing that down where someone could find it. Quinn liked to pretend that she liked you and then when you are least expecting it, release her inner bitch and ruin your life. And then play dumb and act like she had nothing to do with it.

"Anyway, why would I kill her? If anything, I'd kill Berry. I mean, the only reason I can think of me possibly killing Quinn for is her popularity and if I wanted that top spot that Quinn has, then I would start with Berry first. Since Quinn is dead, technically Berry inherits that spot. I mean, Quinn made Berry her second-in-command on our cheerleading squad, which is stupid in my opinion, so Berry is now head Cheerio and I bet you a hundred bucks that she is gonna inherit Quinn's quarterback boyfriend too. So, by killing Quinn, all I would have succeeded in is making Berry even more popular. But yeah, I am in no way desperate or stupid enough to kill for something is fleeting and irrelevant in the grand scheme of things as popularity."

"Berry? As in Rachel Berry, Quinn's best friend?" Detective Minh asked.

"Yep," Santana answered. "Berry hated Quinn too. Secretly, of course. And even though I despise Berry, I understand. Quinn treated her like crap. But Rachel has no backbone at all and was terrified of Quinn so she just let her."

Santana watched as Detective Minh scribbled something down in her notebook. "You're writing this down?" she asked.

"Of course."

"Oh. Well make sure you write this: Santana Lopez did not kill Quinn Fabray," Santana said. "And quite honestly, I am offended that you think I did."

* * *

"Were you aware that Quinn was pregnant at the time of her death?" Detective Minh asked Finn, once he had finished crying. "She was about a month along."

"What? I…that's not possible. Quinn and I hadn't had sex since before she left for Florida. And that was 5, 6 months ago." Finn flashed back to the night that he found out about Quinn and Puck. She had told him that they the only time they had slept together was a week earlier at Santana and Brittany's party. Obviously she lied.

"Do you believe that the father of the baby is Noah Puckerman?"

"Yeah, who else would it be?" Finn asked back. "I still can't believe he would do that to me. I mean, yeah he can't really keep his dick in his pants but you'd think he would realize that my girlfriend is off limits."

* * *

"Why am I here?" Rachel asked Detective Minh after she sat down across from her. "My best friend was just killed two days ago. I am not emotionally ready to handle something like this."

"You want justice for your friend, right?" Detective Minh asked.

Rachel nodded. "Of course I do."

"Then cooperate with me and I'll do everything in my power to find the person who did this to Quinn."

"Fine."

"Thank you, Rachel," Detective Minh said. She cleared her throat. "So, tell me about you and Quinn."

"We were best friends. We've been best friends since she moved here to Lima," Rachel told her. She frowned. "Sorry, but I don't understand what this has to do with anything."

"Rachel, I have heard from people that you and Quinn weren't really on the best of terms," Detective Minh said.

Rachel frowned. "Who told you that?" She was confused. As far as she knew, everyone thought that she and Quinn were two peas in a pod. Thought that they loved each other like sisters and were the best of friends. Well, everyone except for Finn. Did Finn tell the detective that?

"I am not at liberty to say."

Rachel sighed. "Quinn had found out about something that happened over the summer and it really made her angry. We made up though! The day before she was killed. She came over to my house and we talked and hugged and she even invited me to hang out with her and Lauren on Saturday."

"Lauren?"

"Lauren Zizes," Rachel clarified and then frowned as she watched Detective Minh write that down in her notebook. "Why are you writing that down?"

"You say that Lauren was over at Quinn's house on Saturday? Were you there too?"

"Yes, Lauren was there," Rachel told her. "Why? Lauren didn't kill Quinn."

"We have to look at this from all sides, Rachel," Detective Minh replied. "Now please answer the question. Were you at Miss Fabray's house Saturday night?"

Rachel shook her head. "No," she said. "Well, I was, but I came late. I had told Quinn that I didn't want to come, but then I changed my mind. But by the time I got to Quinn's house, there were police cars on her front lawn and crime scene tape around the house and her parents were on the porch, crying, and I had no idea what was going on."

"We looked at your phone records and—"

Rachel was appalled. "You looked at my phone records?! That is an invasion of my privacy."

"This is a murder investigation, Miss Berry," Detective Minh reminded her. "Now, we looked at your phone records and I noticed that you called Finn Hudson twice that night. Once at 10:15 PM and another at 11:33 PM. Care to explain?"

"I called Finn after I found out that Quinn was dead. He's her boyfriend. He had a right to know," Rachel answered.

"Quinn died at around 10:30," Detective Minh said. "Why did you call him 15 minutes prior to that? Quinn was still alive at that time."

"It's private."

"It is of my understanding that you and Finn were involved in a relationship over the summer," Detective Minh told her.

"Who told you that?" Rachel asked.

"I am not at liberty to say," Detective Minh answered. "Anyway, is that what caused the argument between you and Miss Fabray?"

"Yes," Rachel replied. "But like I told you, she forgave me and we made up."

"But maybe that wasn't enough for you," Detective Minh suggested. "You wanted to be with Finn. And Quinn was in the way of that."

"Are you suggesting that I killed Quinn?" Rachel asked incredulously.

"You have motive."

"I didn't kill Quinn!" Rachel exclaimed, tears starting to form in her eyes. This was too much. "She was my best friend! Yes, I sort of resented her and yes, I occasionally had fantasies of her being hit by a bus a la Regina George in _Mean Girls_, but I also cared about her! I would never, I _could _never kill her!"

* * *

"Mr. Puckerman, how are you?" Detective Minh asked as Puck walked into the room and sat down across from her. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Hell no," Puck answered. "I watch CSI, don't tell anyone, and I know how you law enforcement people like to trick people into giving their DNA."

Detective Minh chuckled. "Okay, fair enough."

Puck sighed as he leaned back in his seat. "Can we get this over with?"

"Is it true that you and Quinn Fabray were in a secret relationship?" Detective Minh asked.

Puck shrugged. "I guess," he answered. "Although you couldn't really call it a relationship. We just hooked up a couple times."

"Sources tell me that you and Finn Hudson are close friends. Is that correct?"

"Yeah. Hudson's my boy," Puck answered and then he frowned. "Well, he was. He hasn't really talked to me since the truth about Quinn and I got out."

"Were you jealous of Finn and Quinn's relationship?"

"A little."

"Care to explain why?"

"Quinn's a great girl," Puck told Detective Minh. "Finn didn't appreciate her though. He spent more time fawning over Rachel than being a good boyfriend to Quinn."

"Did you have feelings for Quinn?"

"I loved her."

"So when she decided to stay with Finn instead of starting a relationship with you, that pissed you off, didn't it?"

"Yeah."

"It piss you off enough that you'd kill her?"

"What?" Puck asked. "No, hold up. I didn't kill Quinn."

"Where were you Saturday night between the times of 10 and 11 PM?"

"Out," Puck answered vaguely.

"Out where?"

"None of your business."

"Noah—"

"It's Puck," Puck corrected her.

"Noah," Detective Minh continued. "You need to tell the truth. Because whoever goes down for Quinn's murder isn't just going down for one murder, but two."

* * *

"Tell me about the nature of your relationship with Rachel Berry."

"Rachel?" Finn asked, swallowing a lump that had formed in his throat. "I, uh, we don't really have a relationship. I mean…we're friends, I guess. She's Quinn's best friend so we hang out in groups sometimes."

"Really? Nothing more?"

Finn shook his head.

"Finn, you seem like a nice guy. And I don't want you to have anything to do with Miss Fabray's murder. But if you lie to me, then I have no choice than to assume that there is something that you are trying to hide," Detective Minh told him. "Now, let's try this again. Tell me about the nature of your relationship with Rachel Berry."

"We got…close over the summer."

"How close?"

Finn hesitated and then said, "We…we slept together." He watched as she wrote in her notebook. "Wait, what are you writing down?"

Detective Minh ignored him. "Were you with Quinn at the time that you and Rachel were involved in this relationship? Did anyone else know about your relationship with her?" she asked.

"No, no one else knew and yes, I was with Quinn at the time," Finn answered. "But we only slept together one time! And yeah, we kissed a couple times before that but that's it, I swear."

"What about the emotional aspect of the relationship? What was that like?"

Finn scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Describe your feelings for Rachel," Detective Minh clarified. "Did you love her?"

**END OF PART 2**

* * *

**Told you part 2 was short :P**

**Do you think Finn fell in love with Rachel over the summer? Read part 3 to find out! lol**


	10. PART 3

**Here comes the Finchel! lol finally. thanks for being so patient, you guys :) **

**Also, remember that everything in part 3 happened BEFORE Quinn died (aka before parts 1 and 2)****(i mean obviously since quinn is like walking and breathing lol).  
**

******Alsoooo Quinn's nickname for Rachel (Rachie... ew) is really getting on my nerves, lol. I can't believe I did that.**

**DISCLAIMER - I don't own Glee or its characters.**

* * *

**uncovered**

**PART 3: **

_Saturday, June 16, 2012_

"I am going to miss you sooooo much, Rachie!" Quinn exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around Rachel in a hug.

Rachel hugged her back fiercely. "I know! I'm gonna miss you too, Quinn."

It was three weeks after school had let out for the year and Quinn was heading on a summer long vacation to her hometown of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

"I cannot believe that my parents are forcing me to go back there for a whole summer and I can't even take my best friend," Quinn said. "Are they insane? I am going to die of boredom."

"I'm sure you'll be fine, Quinn. Thank goodness we live in a time where there are cell phones and the internet. I'll only be a click away," Rachel told her. "Besides, it's not like Lima is all that exciting. At least in Florida there'll actually be things to do. And you can catch up with all your old friends."

"All my old friends who I haven't seen in more than four years," Quinn replied. "Ugh. Whatever."

"Quinn!" they heard Mr. Fabray yelling from inside the car. "Hurry up! You don't want to miss your flight!"

"Actually, I do," Quinn muttered under her breath and then shared a laugh with Rachel. She sighed. "I guess I better go. Don't want to keep Grandma Lucie waiting."

Rachel nodded. "Bye, Quinn. Call me when you make it to Florida."

Quinn gave Rachel another hug. "Okay. Bye, Rachie!" she said as she walked over to her father's car. She sent Rachel a wave before climbing into the backseat. "Keep an eye on Finn for me!"

Rachel smiled and waved as she watched Quinn and her parents drive down the road, but as soon as they were out of her sight, she let out a relieved sigh. _Finally, she's gone._ She immediately felt guilty for thinking that, but she couldn't help it. Quinn could be such a pain sometimes. She was always controlling everything that Rachel did. It seemed like she took every opportunity to rub it in Rachel's face that she had an amazing boyfriend like Finn and Rachel had no one. And she was so two-faced. Quinn talked bad about so many people behind their backs, but when they got in front of her, it was like they were long-time friends. It made Rachel sick.

She smiled as she climbed into her own car and made her way down the streets of Lima. She had a whole Quinn-free summer to enjoy and she couldn't be happier. Even though summer had officially started three weeks earlier, it felt to Rachel that it was just starting now. And what to do to celebrate? Get her favorite raspberry-lemon sorbet at Swirl's, the best ice-cream parlor in town. She loved that place, even though she was a vegan. She only indulged in ice-cream if it was dairy-free and the ice-cream that they served there definitely was not. They had awesome sorbet though and Rachel was really craving some at that moment.

* * *

When she walked into Swirl's, she waved at a group of Cheerios that were sitting around a table near the front of the shop. Quinn was the head Cheerio on their cheerleading squad at school and had made Rachel her second-in-command, even though Rachel secretly hated cheerleading and the only reason she was on the squad was because Quinn had pretty much forced her to do it.

"Rachel!" Marie, one of the Cheerios, squealed. "Come sit with us!"

Santana, another girl on the Cheerios, who hung out with Quinn and Rachel frequently even though she hated Rachel, groaned. "Oh G-d, please don't."

"Santana!" Marie scolded. "Don't be rude to Rachel!"

"Rachel doesn't mind," Santana replied and sent a smile in Rachel's direction. "Do you, Rachie?" she asked, using the nickname that she knew Rachel hated.

Rachel resisted the urge to jump over the table and slam Santana's face into her bowl of chocolate and vanilla swirl. "I think I'm just gonna sit by myself today. It was nice seeing you though," she said and then quickly walked away before any of them could protest.

After she got her raspberry-lemon sorbet, she headed over to a small, secluded booth that was in the back of the building and sat down so that she could enjoy her frozen treat in delight. She had just taken her first bite when she heard someone ask, "Did it hurt?"

She looked up and saw Finn, Quinn's boyfriend, standing beside her table. She crinkled her eyebrows in confusion. "Excuse me?"

"Did it hurt?" Finn repeated. "You know? When you fell from heaven?"

Rachel stared at him for a couple seconds and then she giggled. "Finn, that was horrifying. Please don't ever ask me that again."

Finn grinned at her and then slid into the seat across from her.

"Is there a reason why you are using those terrible pick up lines on me?" Rachel asked. "Because I am pretty sure that you have a girlfriend."

Finn shrugged. "I don't know. I just saw you sitting here and I wanted to talk to you but I had no idea what to say. That's kinda bad though considering the fact that we both have the same friends and hang out at the same places and stuff. I mean, you'd think we would know each other a little better. But we don't. Or at least, I don't know much about you. Except for the fact that you're Quinn's best friend," he cleared his throat uncomfortably.

For some reason, he felt weird talking about Quinn. Talking about Quinn made him remember how he had been avoiding her calls for the past couple of weeks. She probably told Rachel all about it. Rachel probably thought he was an asshole.

Or maybe not, if the way she was smiling at him was any indication.

"Anyway, cheesy pick up lines are always a nice way to start a conversation. Quinn hates them, of course, she hates anything fun, don't tell her I said that, but I figured you might be different."

Rachel laughed. "Well it certainly got my attention," she said.

"Exactly! That's the whole point of them," Finn replied. "No one actually thinks that they're being smooth when they use them on a girl. The point is to make them laugh. Once you have their attention, then you use your charm to get their number."

"Are you gonna ask me for my number?"

"I wasn't planning on it but..."

Rachel giggled, but then frowned when she realized that she was flirting with Finn. Flirting! He was her best friend's boyfriend. She couldn't flirt with him. Quinn would kill her. And then they were in a frequented summer hang-out for the students at McKinley. She was sure that somebody would tell Quinn that they saw her here, flirting with her boyfriend. She had to stop this.

"Well, it was nice seeing you, but I kind of want to enjoy my sorbet alone so…"

Finn laughed. "Yeah, about that," he said. "Why are you eating sorbet? The ice-cream here is killer."

"I'm a vegan so I don't eat ice-cream," Rachel explained. "Or at least, not dairy-free ice-cream."

"Oh," Finn replied. "That's kinda cool, actually. I didn't know you are a vegetarian."

"Vegan, Finn. There is a difference," Rachel told him. "If I was a vegetarian, I would definitely be eating ice-cream right now. Real ice-cream. Trust me." She sighed wistfully.

"Oh. Sorry."

Rachel sent him a smile. He was kind of adorable, actually. And she never really paid any attention to him before because he was Quinn's and completely off-limits but he was really cute. Tall, athletic, super-nice, and he had the most adorable dimples she had ever seen on a person before. Dimples that he was showing off right now with the smile that he was giving her. A smile that was making her slightly uncomfortable, given the circumstances.

"Um…have you talked to Quinn today?" she asked.

Finn nodded. "Yeah. I just talked to her before I walked in here, actually. She said that her plane just took off."

"Oh, okay."

Rachel took another bite of her sorbet as an awkward silence settled over them.

"Do you have a mirror in your pants?" Finn asked suddenly.

"What?"

"Do you have a mirror in your pants?" Finn repeated. "Because I can see myself in them."

Rachel stared at him in horror. "Finn!" she gasped. "You can't say that!"

"Relax, Rachel. I was kidding. Just trying to do something to break the awkwardness," Finn told her. "I didn't mean it, obviously. I'm dating Quinn."

For some reason, that didn't make Rachel feel any better. "Maybe you should go," she said.

Finn stared at her in confusion. "What? Why?" he asked. He actually really enjoyed talking to her.

"I doubt that Quinn would feel comfortable if she knew that you were flirting with other girls," Rachel answered. "Especially when that girl is her best friend."

"I'm not flirting with you?" Finn replied, completely surprised at Rachel's behavior. "I was just trying to make conversation. You really should relax some, Rachel."

"You know what? I need to go," Rachel said and was about to stand up and leave when Santana sauntered over to them.

"Finnocence!" she exclaimed, leaning over and kissing Finn on the cheek. "What a pleasure it is to see you!"

"Hey Santana," Finn replied with a smile.

"I didn't know you guys were friends," Santana said, looking at Rachel. "I mean, obviously you know each other because of Quinn, but I've never seen you hang out without her. Weird how as soon as she leaves town, you do."

"We just ran into each other," Rachel said quickly.

Santana smiled. "Right..." she replied. "Well, I just wanted to say hi."

Rachel didn't smile back. "Hi."

Santana laughed. "I'll talk to you later, Rachel," she said and then walked away.

Rachel stood up abruptly. "I have to go," she told Finn. "It was nice talking to you though." She sent him a quick smile and then hurried out of the store, leaving Finn to stare at her unfinished sorbet in confusion.

Once Rachel made it back to her house, she sat in her car, horrified at what she had just done. Finn probably thought she was insane! She totally made a big deal out of nothing. They had just been talking; not making out. If anything Quinn would probably be happy that she and Finn were getting to know each other. Who wouldn't want their best friend and their boyfriend to be friends? And besides, Finn would never cheat on Quinn.

Especially not with her.

_Thursday, June 21, 2012_

Rachel was lying in her backyard, soaking up the sun, when heard her phone start ringing. "Rachel Berry speaking," she answered it, not bothering to look at the caller ID.

"Rachie!" Santana exclaimed. "How are you?"

Rachel frowned. She really didn't feel like dealing with Santana. And her day had been going so well, too. "Can you please try and refrain from calling me that, Santana?"

Santana laughed. "Oh, right. Only Quinn has the rights to that name."

"What do you want?"

"Brit and I are throwing a party at her place. You should come," Santana told her.

Rachel was surprised. "You actually _want_ me to come?" she asked.

Santana laughed. "No, of course not," she answered.

Rachel rolled her eyes in response. _Of course._

"But some idiot is bound to spill the news to Q that you weren't at my party and then she'd call you up and you'd whine to her about how you weren't invited and then Q would be all up my ass about it and I really don't feel like dealing with her," Santana continued. "So, in order to prevent that from happening, I'm inviting you. Bring your swimsuit. A bikini would be preferable. You don't want to show up in a one piece looking like a fifth grader."

"Thanks, Santana," Rachel said dryly.

"It starts at 5!" Santana told her. "You can come early to help set up if you want."

"No thanks," Rachel replied.

Santana let out a sigh of relief. "Okay. See you later, Hobbit!" she exclaimed and then hung up.

Rachel shook her head in disbelief and then returned to relaxing in the sun.

* * *

About twenty minutes after five, Rachel pulled into the driveway at Brittany's house. There were already tons of cars parked on the front lawn and down the streets of the neighborhood and Rachel felt a headache coming on. She really didn't feel like dealing with these people. Still, she grabbed her bag, slipped her sunglasses on over her eyes, and then walked around the house towards the backyard, where she could hear music coming from.

"Rachel!" Marie exclaimed when she saw Rachel arrive. "You're here!"

Rachel smiled. "Yeah," she said, trying to sound enthusiastic, but failing miserably. Marie moved in to give Rachel a hug, but Rachel held up a hand. "Marie, you're wet." She gestured to Marie's skimpy two-piece.

Marie giggled. "Oh, right!" she replied. "Change into your suit so I can give you a proper hug, silly!"

"Alright. Let me just go find Santana and Brittany first," she said and then walked away quickly so that she could get away from Marie.

She saw Brittany in the middle of a group of guys, showing off her dance moves, and Santana, lounging in a chair by the pool, but instead she made her way through the back door into Brittany's house and up to Brittany's room so that she could change.

She sighed as she pulled out her black string bikini that had little gold stars printed on it. "Don't worry," she told herself as she changed out of her street clothes and into the swimsuit. "Just one more year and then you can be in New York where you can really shine."

She neatly folded up her clothes and placed them back in her bag, put another coat of sunscreen on ("One can never be too careful!"), slid her bag underneath Brittany's bed where it'd be safe, pulled her hair up into a bun, and then headed back downstairs.

She was just about to walk back out to backyard when she tripped over Lord Tubbington, Brittany's extremely overweight cat, and into Finn, who had been carrying two drinks in his hand, two drinks that were now spilled all over the front of Rachel's body.

Finn's eyes widened. "Crap!" he exclaimed. "I am so sorry, Rachel!" He hurried back into the kitchen and when he came back, he was carrying a roll of paper towels. He ripped one off and tried to wipe the sticky red liquid off of Rachel, who was just standing there, shocked at what had just happened. "Why the hell isn't this stuff coming off?"

Finally, Rachel came to her senses and she glared at him. "What are you doing in here?"

"Um, Santana made me get her and Brit a drink. They didn't want the ones that were out there," Finn answered, still trying to get the stuff off of Rachel.

She slapped his hand. "Finn!" she snapped. "It's not coming off because dry paper towels tend not to work too well on sticky substances. Maybe you should have tried wetting it first."

"Ohhh," Finn replied. "Right. I probably should've done that."

Rachel frowned as she looked down at the front of her body. "This is my favorite bikini too."

"At least it's black…you can't really see the punch…" Finn said, trying to make her feel better. He sighed. "I'm sorry. Damn, why am I so clumsy?"

"Can you go tell Brittany that I'm borrowing her shower?" Rachel asked. She frowned at her swimsuit. "And her washing machine and dryer?"

Finn nodded. "Sure. Of course."

"Thanks, Finn," Rachel said and then headed upstairs.

Finn stared after her. "Dammit," he cursed and then headed outside.

* * *

Forty-five minutes later, Rachel finally made it outside. Only this time she was back in her clothes and was leaving.

"Rachel!" Marie exclaimed when she saw her. "You're leaving so early? You haven't even joined in on the fun yet!"

"Yeah, sorry, I'm just not feeling so well," Rachel told her. "We can hang out some other time though, okay?"

Marie frowned. "Okay."

Rachel sent her a smile and then headed back out to the driveway, where she ran into Finn again. Luckily this time he was empty-handed.

He frowned at her. "You're leaving?"

Rachel nodded. "Yep."

"Because of me?"

Rachel shook her head. "I'm just not in the mood for partying."

"Oh. Well, I'll see you around?"

"Sure, Finn."

"Well, bye."

"Bye."

And with that awkward conversation out of the way, Rachel got into her car, and pulled out of the driveway as fast as she could.

* * *

**Oh Finn... lol**


	11. Chapter 11

**Soooo I kinda love this chapter :) hope you do too!  
**

**DISCLAIMER - I don't own Glee or its characters.**

* * *

**uncovered**

_Monday, June 25, 2012_

Rachel stood in the lobby of the Lima Center for the Performing Arts (LCPA) and stared up at the audition sheet for that year's summer youth production of West Side Story.

Oh, how she wanted to audition for the part of Maria so badly. She couldn't though.

She sighed sadly as she walked out of the building. She had just arrived at her car and was about to get in when she heard someone calling her name. She looked up and saw Finn jogging over towards her from down the street. She glanced back and forth between Finn and her car and contemplated jumping in and taking off before Finn could reach her, but she figured that would be rude. Plus, Finn would probably ask Quinn about her weird behavior and she didn't need Quinn questioning her about it. She sighed and then plastered a fake smile on her face before turning to Finn who had just reached her.

"Hey," Finn greeted her, a wide smile on his face, showing off his dimples.

"Hello Finn," Rachel replied.

Finn gestured towards the LCPA building. "I just saw you leave there," he told her. "Are you planning on being in the summer play again? Quinn forced me to go to last year's. You were awesome as Choir Girl #2. Your voice is killer."

Rachel blushed. "Thank you for the compliment, Finn, but no, I am not planning on participating in this summer's musical."

"Why not?" Finn asked. "I bet that you could get the lead if you wanted to."

Rachel looked up at him in surprise. "Really?" No one (besides her fathers of course) had ever told her that before. But that's probably because she pretended to not care that much about musical theatre and that she was completely fine with Quinn taking the lead on everything. Even though that was the furthest from the truth.

Finn nodded. "Yeah. Definitely," he told her. "You know, I never understood why Quinn always gets the lead parts in these things and you're always stuck with some sucky backup part. Your voice is way better than hers in my opinion and you're a way better actress too. You showed way more emotion in that tiny part where you had to scream and faint than Quinn did in the whole play." He frowned. "Don't tell her I said that. She'll kill me."

Rachel giggled. "Don't worry. I agree with you," she replied.

Finn raised his eyebrows in confusion. "You agree?" he asked.

Rachel nodded. "Quinn's voice is lovely, but mine is far superior. And yes, she could do with a couple of acting classes," she answered. She looked up at him worriedly. "Please don't tell her I said that."

"Don't worry. I won't," Finn reassured her with a laugh.

Rachel smiled at him. He was so sweet. No wonder Quinn held on to him so tight.

"Hey Rach," Finn said and then frowned. "Can I call you Rach?"

"Of course you can," Rachel told him. Oddly enough, no one had ever called her that before. She liked the way it sounded coming from Finn's mouth though.

Finn grinned. "Awesome. So, Rach, are you busy right now? Like, do you have anywhere you need to be?"

Rachel shook her head. "Not really. Why?"

"You wanna hang out?"

"Hang out?" Rachel asked. "Like, just the two of us?"

Finn laughed. "You say that like you're afraid I'm gonna hurt you or something."

Rachel blushed. "No, no," she assured him. "I just…won't Quinn be angry?"

Finn was quiet as he contemplated the answer. "Probably," he finally said and then grinned. "But she doesn't have to know. I mean, we don't have to tell her about every little thing in that goes on in our lives even if she thinks that we do."

Rachel bit her lip and furrowed her brow worriedly. "I don't know," she said. "I think Quinn has, like, spies or something set up around the city. She always seems to know exactly what I am doing and where I am when I am doing it. Even when she's hundreds of miles away." She glanced back at the LCPA building. "Actually, I shouldn't even be here right now. Quinn is probably gonna kill me for even thinking about auditioning without her."

"Why?" Finn asked.

"I'd rather not talk about it," Rachel answered. What was she thinking? Quinn may be gone, but she wasn't _really_ gone. And she could not afford to be caught talking about her like this. "I really have to go, Finn."

Finn stared at her for a while, seeming like he was about to say something, but then nodded. "Okay."

Rachel sent him a small smile and a wave. "See you around," she said and then got in her car. She watched as Finn jogged back across the street to his own truck and then drove away. _Wow. He has a really cute butt. _She blushed and then admonished herself for thinking about Quinn's boyfriend that way. Ever since that day at Swirl's, she found her thought drifting to Finn. And she hated it. She hated that she couldn't get her mind off of him. She barely knew him except for the fact that he was Quinn's boyfriend and that he played football and was always making people laugh and he had the most adorable dimples in his cheeks, dimples so deep that you could probably fit a coin in them and… "Rachel! Stop it!" she scolded herself. She sighed sadly. What was happening to her? She was just about to pull off and head back home when she felt her phone vibrate. She groaned irritably as she looked at the caller ID. _Quinn. _Great, just great.

"Hey Quinn," she said, injected a false cheerfulness in her voice. "How's Florida?"

"Fabulous, Rachie! Totally not as suckish as I thought it would be. The weather is phenomenal. When I get back, everyone's gonna be jealous of my sun-kissed skin," Quinn told her.

Rachel rolled her eyes. She could care less about Quinn's "sun-kissed skin". "That's great, Quinn."

"I wish you were here, Rachel," Quinn continued. "There are some seriously drool-worthy boys here. So sexy."

Rachel shook her head in disbelief as she listened to Quinn say hi flirtatiously to a boy, a lifeguard she presumed from the conversation that she was hearing. Their voices were muffled, Rachel assumed that Quinn had a hand covering her phone, but she could still hear almost every word. And she was getting angry. Quinn had this tight hold on Finn, she didn't even like Finn _looking_ at another girl, and here she was, flirting with some guy that she barely knew? Finn did not deserve that.

"Sorry about that, Rachie. I was talking to one of my girlfriends from back in middle school," Quinn said what seemed like eons later.

She was _lying _now? Not like that was anything Quinn didn't normally do, but still. Rachel was so done with this conversation. "I have to go, Quinn," she said and then hung up the phone, not even bothering to hear what Quinn had started to say. She felt guilty, but also kind of empowered. She had never done anything like that to Quinn before. Rachel giggled a little. Quinn was gonna be _so _pissed, but she didn't even care.

Her phone vibrated again and she let out an irritated huff, didn't Quinn get the hint that she didn't want to talk to her? She picked up her phone again, ready to press the ignore button, but it wasn't a call from Quinn. It was a text. From Finn.

_hey rach. meet me at my house? i think i know something you might like. -finn_

Rachel frowned. Since when did Finn know her number? And what the hell? He wanted her to go to his _house_? She knew where it was, she had gone to numerous parties there, but still. Was he trying to get the both of them killed? She had typed out a quick response, politely declining, and was just about to press send when another text came in.

_oh and i got ur number from quinn. told her that i needed your help picking out a bday present for her._

Rachel crinkled her nose. He thought that she might like picking out a birthday present for Quinn?

**Just get her a necklace or something, Finn. As long as it is flashy and expensive, she'll love it. I thought that'd you already know this from dating her for two years.**

_two years that i'll never get back._

Rachel laughed a little and then frowned. What was he trying to say? That he didn't enjoy being Quinn's boyfriend? Not that that is hard to believe, but she had been under the impression that Quinn and Finn were very happy together. No wonder Quinn had been so crazy and controlling about Finn lately.

**Um…**

_chill rachel. it was a joke._

**Not a very funny one. You know, all of your jokes haven't been very funny lately. I think you're losing your touch.**

_nah, you just make me nervous. i never know what to say around you._

Rachel blushed. She made _him _nervous? It was definitely the other way around.

_please come over? i really think you'll enjoy this._

…**okay. Be there in fifteen.**

_awesome._

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Rachel pulled into Finn's driveway. As she stood on the doorstep to his house, she wiped her sweaty palms on the sundress that she was wearing. The last time she had been here, there were about 50 people here. Now it was just her and Finn. She was nervous. And so, so confused. "What the hell am I doing here?" she muttered to herself.

"Talking to yourself now?"

Rachel's head whipped up at the sound of the voice and she blushed as she looked at Finn, who was standing in the now open doorway.

"Sorry," she said quietly.

Finn laughed. "Why are you apologizing?"

Rachel's blushed deepened. "I have no idea."

Finn grinned and gestured inside of his house. "Do you wanna come inside?"

Rachel sent him a shy smile in response and followed him inside. "Wow, it smells amazing in here."

Finn nodded. "Yeah, my mom's in the kitchen cooking dinner," he told her. "Have you met her before?"

"We've gone to school together since kindergarten, Finn," Rachel reminded him. "I've seen her at a lot of school functions."

"But you've never really met her, right?" Finn asked.

"Right."

Finn grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the kitchen. "Come on," he said.

Rachel stared at him in surprise, but before she could say anything, Finn had already dropped her hand and they were standing in front of Carole Hudson-Hummel. She smiled at Rachel. "Who is this, Finn?" she asked.

"Mom, this is Rachel Berry. Rachel, Mom," Finn introduced them.

Carole's eyes flashed in recognition once she heard Rachel's name. "Oh, you're the little girl who gave that flawless performance in the sixth grade talent show. Oh my, you've grown up to be a beautiful young lady."

Rachel beamed. "Thank you, Mrs. Hummel. That means a lot."

"Well this is fun but Rachel and I have things to do so…" Finn said as he shifted impatiently.

"Would you like to stay for dinner? I'm making chicken pot pie. It's one of Finn's favorite dishes, right honey?" Carole asked.

"I…" Rachel stammered nervously.

"She's a vegan, Mom," Finn said and then pulled Rachel away and up the stairs. "Sorry about that. I didn't think she'd try and rope you into staying over for dinner. Then again, this is my mom that we're talking about here…"

Rachel giggled. "It's fine, Finn. You even remembered that I'm a vegan. Very impressive."

Finn shrugged. "Yeah, well."

They stopped walking and Rachel gasped when she saw the inside of the room they were standing outside of. "Wow…" The room was impeccably tidy, not a thing was out of place, and there were posters of famous Broadway actors and actresses plastered all over the walls and oh my, there was the most amazing collection of musicals that she had ever seen. She turned to Finn. "This is your room?" she asked in surprise. It seemed nothing like him.

Finn laughed. "Hell no," he answered. "It's my stepbrother's. Kurt."

Rachel went through her mental inventory of the people that she knew until she could conjure up a memory of Kurt Hummel, Finn's step brother. "Oh!" she exclaimed once she remembered. She laughed as well. "Well that makes more sense."

Finn smiled at the way that Rachel was looking around the room. Like she was in paradise. "You wanna go in?"

Rachel bit her lip. "Can I? I mean, it's your brother's room. He won't be mad, will he?"

"As long as you don't touch his scarf collection."

Rachel giggled as she stepped foot into the room. "This is amazing."

"I don't know what half the stuff in here is, but Kurt seems to love it so…"

"No, really," Rachel said. "This is just breathtaking. Extraordinary. I had no idea that Kurt was into Broadway. I just thought he was kinda weird."

Finn's eyes flashed. "Why? Because he's gay?"

Rachel's mouth dropped in surprise. "What? No! No, of course not!" she protested. "I do have two gay fathers, you know."

"Oh. Right," Finn said. "Sorry."

"Mhmm."

Finn smiled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry," he repeated. "It's just that Quinn kind of hates Kurt. The fact that he's gay makes her really uncomfortable and she spreads all these rumors about him. Of course she'd never own up to starting them, but I know it's her. She's always talking about how she doesn't like the idea of me living with him and stuff. I tell her she's crazy and Kurt doesn't feel that way about me, at least not since sophomore year, and that we are step-brothers now and that's gross anyway but she doesn't listen."

Rachel smiled. "I think she's just jealous that he dresses better than she does."

Finn laughed. "Yeah, that must be it."

Rachel flipped through a couple of DVDs and then turned back to look at Finn, who was still standing in the doorway. "How'd you know that I was into this kind of stuff?"

"Like you said before, Rachel. We've known each other since kindergarten. I still remember how you used to always talk about New York and Broadway and how you're gonna do whatever you can to get out of Lima one day and be the next Barbra Streisand. Whoever that is," Finn told her. "You stopped talking about it, but when we were talking earlier about the musical, I knew. I could tell that you never really gave up on those dreams."

Rachel was quiet. She had done everything that she could to leave that Rachel Berry behind. She didn't think that anybody remembered how crazy she had been about Broadway. Obviously she was wrong. "There's nothing wrong with loving this stuff, you know," she heard Finn say. "I actually think its awesome how passionate you were about your dreams and stuff. I have no idea what I'm doing after this year. I know I wanna get out of Lima, but that's pretty much it. Quinn has other ideas though."

"Oh you mean her fantasy of the two of you getting married with 2.5 kids and a white picket fence? The one where she's a successful real estate agent and you're running your stepfather's tire shop?"

Finn nodded with a grimace. "She's insane."

Rachel giggled. "Yeah," she said and then sighed sadly. She ran her hands wistfully over the copy of Funny Girl that she was holding.

Finn walked over and sat down on the floor next to her. "What's wrong?"

"I miss it," Rachel told him, quietly.

"Miss what?"

"I miss that feeling of being on stage. Of being the star. Of everybody looking at me in awe because of my flawless voice, a product of natural talent and years of training," Rachel said, not looking him in the eye. "I… I know that everyone hated me back then, that everyone thought I was stuck-up and thought I was better than everyone else. I know they thought I was weird and crazy and maybe even a little mentally insane but when I was up on that stage, they forgot about all that. All they focused on was my gift. My gift of performing." A tear fell from her eye and onto Barbra Streisand's face.

Finn wiped the tear away with the pad of his thumb. "I didn't hate you," he told her. "I actually thought you were kinda cool. I didn't know much about you but I did know that you had a kick-ass voice. It was awesome how such a big voice came out of such a tiny person. It still is."

Rachel giggled. "Thanks, Finn." She looked up at him. "Hey, do you remember that one day in the second grade? That idiot, Dave Karofsky, had pushed me off the swing and I fell and I was crying and no one cared?"

Finn frowned. "Jackasses," he said and then smiled at her. "I remember. I helped you up and then walked you down to the nurses' office."

"Mhmm. And you ate lunch with me everyday for the rest of that school year even though I was an outcast," Rachel added. She blushed. "You were kinda my first crush."

Finn laughed. "Yeah?"

Rachel nodded. "Yep," she said. "But then you ignored me in third grade and the years after that and I hated you."

Finn cringed then. "Sorry."

"Yeah, well no one is perfect," Rachel said. "At least you didn't actively participate in the bullying."

"Watching from the sidelines and not doing anything about it is still a dick move though and I kind of hate myself for it," Finn replied.

"Well don't. I understand. You were just trying to fit in," Rachel told him. "I know all about that."

An awkward silence settled over them, and Finn shifted uncomfortably. Finally, he said, "I really think you should audition for the lead in that musical."

Rachel shook her head. "I can't, Finn."

Finn was getting frustrated. Anyone with half a brain could see how much she wanted to. "Why the hell not?"

"Finn, you don't understand."

"Then help me understand."

Rachel sighed and changed her position so that she was facing him. She looked down at her hands, which were in her lap. "Okay, so, you know how I had been the lead in the summer youth musicals since I was, like, a fetus?"

Finn nodded. "Yeah. And that is exactly why I find the thought of you not being the lead absurd."

Rachel ignored him. "And you know how that first summer that Quinn moved here, she got the lead and has been the lead ever since?"

"Yes. Again that is absurd."

"Before Quinn and her family moved her, the LCPA was struggling. Really badly. They were supposed to shut down that summer," Rachel told him.

"Seriously?"

"Yes. I was talking to Quinn about it one day when we first started spending time together and then a couple weeks later, the LCPA sent out a notice that they were staying open after all."

"You mean…?" Finn asked, already knowing the answer.

Rachel nodded. "Quinn had convinced her dad to donate thousands of dollars to the LCPA in exchange for an assurance that she would get the lead in the musical. I never told anyone about it though because I loved the place so much and the thought of it being shut down, it literally made my heart ache."

"Rachel…" Finn started.

"It's not fair. Seeing Quinn up there every year, knowing that I should be in her place. It sucks."

"Quinn's not here," Finn said. "She can't be the lead anyway, so what is stopping you?"

"When Quinn and I became friends, she made me give up everything. My clothes, my personality… Even my dreams of being on Broadway. She said it turned people off 'cause they had no idea what the hell I was talking about. She said that I needed to be more approachable if I wanted people to like me. I hated it, but I listened to her anyway because I was so desperate for people to like me. Quinn was my one-way ticket to instant popularity. We were starting high school soon and I didn't want my high school years to be hell on earth like elementary and middle school were. Quinn was giving me a chance to start fresh and I took it. I changed everything about me," Rachel told him. "She knew she couldn't keep me away from the LCPA completely but she made me try out for smaller parts, like Choir Girl #2, so that I wouldn't outshine her. She knows that I am superior to her when it comes to things like this so she shoved me into the background where no one would notice."

"I noticed."

Rachel shrugged. "Yeah, well…"

"Rachel, this is crazy. Quinn doesn't own you. If you want to be the lead in that musical, then fuck what she told you. She can't do anything about it."

"She's gonna find out, Finn, and then what?" Rachel asked, and then frowned. She was disgusted with herself. Scared of Quinn even when she was states away.

"I'll talk to her. She's not gonna like it, but I don't fucking care. She's been on a major power trip lately and she needs a reality check. The world does not revolve around Quinn Fabray."

Rachel looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "You'd do that for me, Finn?" she asked. "You barely know me."

"I know that you're an awesome person, Rachel. Talented, sweet, beautiful…" he cleared his throat. "You deserve this. It's not right for Quinn to take away the thing that makes you the most happy. In fact, that's pretty damn mean."

"Mean is Quinn's specialty," Rachel said. "It's how she gets what she wants. Scares everyone into doing her bidding."

"You're auditioning for that musical, Rachel," Finn said, his voice filled with conviction. "After you leave here, you're gonna go back to the LCPA and you are gonna sign your name on that list, and then you're gonna audition and blow everyone away with your talent, and then you're gonna be in the musical and remind everyone in Lima what a real lead looks like. They're gonna be like, 'Quinn Fabray, who?' and then when you move to New York and become a huge star, you're gonna send me front row tickets to your first Broadway show, and even though I'm gonna have no idea what's going on, I'll come watch you show New York just how kick-ass Rachel Berry really is."

"Finn…" Rachel said, her eyes filling with tears again. Why was he being so sweet? And as she looked up at him, their eyes locking, she knew then. She knew that she was falling for him. She was falling for him and it was too late to stop. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that she shouldn't do this, that this was her best friend's boyfriend and that she should definitely not do what she was thinking of doing, but she didn't care. All she knew that Quinn was a terrible best friend and that Finn was the sweetest guy in the world and that Quinn did not deserve him. And besides, Quinn was off in Florida getting a tan and flirting with lifeguards and she was here, sitting with Finn on his step-brother's bedroom floor and he looked so adorable, with his dimples and his crooked smile and she couldn't help it. She kissed him.

Finn didn't know what he was doing. All he knew was that Rachel was telling him about how Quinn was being her usual bitchy, manipulative self multiplied by 1000 and controlling her life and keeping her from doing the thing that she loved most and he hated that. He hated Quinn. And then Rachel was looking up at him, her eyes shining with tears, and so much gratitude and he knew that he was screwed.

Over the past month, ever since he had talked to Rachel in Swirl's (damn he loved their ice-cream), he couldn't get Rachel out of his mind. Her eyes that reminded him of a rich, dark chocolate. Her long, dark chocolate tresses. Her smile. Her body. She was so tiny it seemed like he could fit her in his pocket but damn, did she look good. And he knew that he shouldn't be doing this, he knew that he had a girlfriend, but she was miles away, and it wasn't like she cared about him anyway. He was finally starting to understand that. So he continued. He continued to go out of his way to talk to her. To try and get to know her better. He had been doing a pretty bad job at it, but when he saw her outside of the performing arts center, looking so sad, it reminded him of the old Rachel Berry. Crazy Rachel Berry from when they were younger. Crazy Rachel Berry who talked a lot and always used big words that he couldn't understand and who had always seemed like on a completely different wavelength than the rest of them. Crazy Rachel Berry whose voice touched something inside of him whenever he had the chance to hear her sing. Crazy Rachel Berry who he had always been sort of intrigued by. And then he knew. He knew exactly what do to. And it had worked pretty damn well, if you'd ask him.

So when she leaned over and pressed her lips against his, he kissed her back. He knew that it was wrong. That he had a girlfriend, her best friend. But he didn't care. All he cared about was that her lips were so soft and she tasted like cherries and that this just felt so right even though it should have been so wrong.

He deepened the kiss, pressing his tongue against her lips, asking for permission and she let out the faintest moan as she parted her lips, allowing him to slip his tongue inside. So faint that he almost missed it. It was the hottest thing that he had ever heard though, and damn what the hell had he gotten himself into? He wrapped an arm around her waist and was just about to push her gently back onto the floor when he heard a shriek and the sound of something hitting the floor.

He and Rachel jumped apart and looked towards the doorway, where a horrified Kurt was standing, a pile of fashion magazines lying at his feet.

Finn glanced over at Rachel, who was breathing heavily, her lips swollen and then back at Kurt who shook his head and said, "Finn? You are in so much trouble."

* * *

After being interrupted by Kurt, Rachel had quickly muttered something about the kiss being a mistake and she needed to go and then she hurried off and now Finn was lying face down on his bed, marveling at the fact that he had just cheated on his girlfriend of two years. His girlfriend that was gonna go insane when she found out. He was a fucking idiot.

"Finn?"

Finn lifted his head to look at Kurt, who was standing in his doorway. "What?" he asked.

Kurt walked over and sat down next to him. "I'm just wondering why you and your girlfriend's best friend were going at it on my bedroom floor while your girlfriend is on vacation in Florida."

"We weren't 'going at it', Kurt?" Finn said, getting defensive. "It was just a kiss."

Kurt laughed. "Yeah, okay."

Finn sighed. "I don't know, man. One minute we were talking and the next…"

"You had your tongue shoved down her throat?"

"Kurt."

"What? It's the truth."

Finn just groaned and shoved his face back into his pillow. "This blows."

"Finn, don't worry. I'm not gonna tell your bitch of a girlfriend about your secret rendezvous with her bitch of a best friend."

Finn glared at him. "Rachel is not a bitch."

Kurt looked at him knowingly and nodded. "Yep. You are in trouble."

"What do you mean?"

"I know Rachel's not a bitch, Finn. She's actually pretty awesome when she's not following Quinn around like a puppy dog," Kurt told him. "I just said that because I wanted to see which girl you would defend. And it was Rachel. Who is definitely not your girlfriend. Hence the reason why I said that you are in trouble."

"Great."

* * *

**:)**


	12. Chapter 12

**uncovered**

_Wednesday, June 27, 2012_

For the second time that week, Rachel stood in the lobby of the LCPA. This time though, she had a pen in her hand. She signed her name on the audition sheet with a flourish and with a smile, she took out a new pack of gold star stickers and pressed one at the end of her signature. The act was strangely uplifting. She hadn't added a gold star to the end of her name since before eighth grade. Quinn said that it made her look like she thought she was better than everyone else. Rachel had to bite her tongue to refrain from telling Quinn that she _was _better than everyone else.

"Hey Rachel," Kurt said as he walked up beside her. "Talked to my brother lately?"

Rachel glared at him and then quickly looked around to make sure know one had heard him. "Are you _trying_ to get me killed?"

Kurt laughed. "Of course not. Finn would be devastated."

"Kurt!"

"Sorry, sorry," Kurt apologized. "I'll shut up now."

Rachel let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you," she said and then lowered her voice to a whisper. "And for your information, no, I have not talked to your brother lately. That kiss was a mistake and I really don't want to see your brother again lest my heart overcomes my brain and I kiss him again."

"Oh so _you_ kissed _him_," Kurt replied. "I thought it was the other way around. Oooh, you naughty girl."

Rachel blushed. "Please stop. It was just a kiss and it was a mistake. I feel horrible."

"Why?" Kurt asked. "Quinn's a bitch. To both you and to Finn."

"So? She's still my best friend."

Kurt shrugged. "If you say so," he said. He gestured to the audition list. "So are you auditioning for one of those insignificant roles again are you gonna be a little more ambitious this year? I am guessing the latter, since you brought out the gold stars."

Rachel smiled proudly. "I'm auditioning for role of Maria."

"Good. Your voice is phenomenal," Kurt told her. "I'm sure you're gonna get the role. I don't understand how Quinn's gotten the lead these last few years. It's criminal."

Rachel shifted uncomfortably and then pointed to the door. "Well, I'm gonna go. It was nice talking to you." She sent him a quick smile and then headed for the door.

"Wait, Rachel!" Kurt called after her.

Rachel turned. "Yes?"

"You should come back to my house," Kurt suggested. "Everyone in this damn town is so uncultured and I desperately need someone to gush over the genius of Barbra and Patti with. We could have a little musical marathon. I have popcorn."

"I don't know…" Rachel started. She really wanted to, but she didn't want to run into Finn.

Kurt sensed her hesitation. "Finn is working at my dad's tire shop right now. He won't be home for a while."

Rachel smiled. "Okay. I'll come."

* * *

"Nice job today, Finn," Burt Hummel said to Finn as he was walking out of the tire shop.

Finn sent him a smile. "Thanks Burt." He did do a good job that day and you know what? He was gonna treat himself with some ice-cream from Swirl's. He thought that he deserved it. His smile widened as he got into his truck and headed towards his favorite ice-cream shop.

He had just pulled into the parking lot at Swirl's when his phone rang_. _He answered the call without checking who it was.

"What's up?"

"Finn!" came Quinn's voice on the other end and Finn could tell that she was pissed. _Damn. Did she find out about the kiss?_

"Um, hey babe," Finn greeted her nervously. "How's Florida?"

"Florida would be a lot better if my supposed boyfriend would call me back," Quinn snapped. "You're neglecting your boyfriendly duties, Finn. We haven't talked in two days."

_Yeah, that's because I was macking on your best friend and I feel really guilty about it. _"I'm sorry, Quinn. I've just been really busy. Working at the tire shop and all."

"It's been two days, Finn. You mean to tell me that in forty-eight hours you couldn't find one moment to call your girlfriend and ask her how her day was and tell her that you miss her and love her and can't wait until summer is over so you can see her again?" Quinn asked.

"…I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Quinn asked. "You're _sorry_? Are you kidding me?"

"Quinn, how was your day? I miss you. I love you. I can't wait until summer is over so that I can see you again," Finn told her. "There. You happy?" The problem was, Finn didn't really give a shit how Quinn's day was going, he definitely didn't miss her, he wasn't sure about how he felt about her anymore, and who the hell can't wait until summer is over? _Bitch be crazy_. He laughed a little. _Man, I crack myself up. _

"Yes, Finn. Ecstatic," Quinn said, even though she sounded everything but. "And why the hell are you laughing? This is not funny."

Finn rolled his eyes, his good mood quickly dissipating. "Quinn, can you not yell at me for once? It's getting old."

"Yeah, well maybe if you'd actually be a good boyfriend for once and call me back I wouldn't have to yell at you," Quinn told him.

"Yeah, well maybe if you weren't always such a bitch I'd actually want to call you back instead of it being such a chore," Finn retorted.

Quinn gasped. "Finn!" she exclaimed. "A chore? Talking to me is a _chore_?"

"It's starting to get that way."

"Finn, you should be thankful that you have a girlfriend as amazing as me."

Finn laughed. "Okay." He knew that he was being a dick, but he didn't care. She was pissing him off with all the yelling and did she really accuse him of being a bad boyfriend? Yeah, he kissed Rachel two days ago but before that? The past two years? He had been the epitome of the perfect boyfriend and she always took advantage of that. Between that and what Rachel had told him, he was done with Quinn. "I gotta go, Quinn," he told her and then hung up. He left his phone in the car while he spent thirty minutes in Swirl's and when he came back, he had twenty missed calls. All from Quinn. He typed out a quick text to her.

_we'll talk later._

**LATER? Finn u r really pissing me off right now.**

**Finn?**

**FINN**

**WHY THE HELL ARE YOU IGNORING ME**

**Fuck you.**

**You don't deserve me.**

**Finn?**

**Fine. We'll talk later.**

_cool._

And with that, he headed back to his house.

* * *

When he walked inside his house, the first thing he noticed was the smell of popcorn and the sound of laughter coming from upstairs. He frowned. "Weird," he muttered to himself. Kurt didn't normally have guests. He headed up the stairs and knocked on Kurt's closed door. "Kurt?"

Kurt cracked the door open and peeked out at Finn. "Yes, brother dear?"

"Um, what're you doing?"

"I have company, Finn. Clearly."

"A boy?"

Kurt flushed. "What? No! Besides, you know I'm like the only out gay in Lima. Why the hell would a boy be over here?"

"Oh. So who is it?"

Finn heard a crash and then a voice go, "Ow!" He narrowed his eyes at Kurt. "Is that Rachel?"

"No?"

"Why is Rachel over here, Kurt?"

"I wanted someone to watch Funny Girl with. I would have asked you, but you always fall asleep five minutes in and I didn't feel like dealing with that. Relax."

"Tell her that I want to talk."

"She doesn't want to talk to you."

Finn frowned. Well, that hurt. "Rachel?" he called. "Can we talk?"

"Hold on one second," Kurt said and then closed the door in his face.

Finn heard them arguing in hushed voices and when the door opened again, it was Rachel standing there instead of Kurt. She smiled nervously at him. "Hi Finn."

"Hi. We should talk."

Rachel stared down at her hands. "Talk about what?"

"Are you serious?" Finn asked incredulously. "The kiss."

"Don't worry; I didn't tell Quinn. I'm not going to tell Quinn. It was a mistake," Rachel told him.

"Rachel…"

"Finn, we were kinda in the middle of something, so if you'd excuse me," Rachel said and then started to close the door, but Finn stopped it with his foot.

"Did you sign up for the musical?" he asked.

Rachel nodded. "Mhmm. You can ask Kurt if you don't believe me."

Finn smiled at her. "Good. Kick ass at the auditions, okay?"

"Okay."

_Saturday, June 30, 2012_

Finn was livid. He had just gotten off the phone with Quinn and their conversation left him with a pit in the bottom of his stomach. Was he ever gonna get out of this fucked-up relationship? "Who the hell does she think she is?" he asked to himself.

"What's wrong?" Kurt asked as he walked into the house and saw Finn standing in the living room, his phone in his hand and looking extremely pissed.

"My girlfriend. She's officially gone off the edge," Finn told him.

"What happened?" Kurt asked.

"I finally called her back and—" Finn started but Kurt cut him off.

"Finn, you're just now calling her back? Its been almost a week. Now you know that I hate Quinn, but that seems kind of excessive, don't you think?" he asked.

"I don't fucking care, Kurt," Finn said and then continued talking. "We got in an argument, again, but this time she threatened me."

"She's always threatening you, Finn," Kurt pointed out. He mimicked Quinn's voice. "'I'm the best thing you've ever had, Finn. Breaking up with me is social suicide, Finn. Don't do this, Finn. Buy me those earrings, Finn, to prove that you love me, Finn. If you don't, I'll break up with you, Finn, and you'll grow old and alone, Finn.' You and I both know she's just spewing a load of crap."

"No, Kurt, she really threatened me this time," Finn told him. "I told her that when she came back, we needed to talk. Really talk about if our relationship is worth continuing and she freaked out. She did the usual 'Oh Finn I'm the best thing you've ever had' crap and then when she could tell that it wasn't working, she told me that if I broke up with her, she'd get 'Daddy' to call up Principal Figgins and convince him to convince Coach Beiste to kick me off the football team."

Kurt's mouth dropped. "What? She can't do that."

"But she can, Kurt." Finn ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Dammit, I can't get kicked off the football team. It's my only chance of getting out of this hellhole of a town."

"Rachel's supposed to come over later. Do you want me to reschedule?" Kurt offered. "I can warm up some milk and we can talk this over."

Finn shook his head. "No, its fine. Have fun with Rachel," he said in a flat voice and then headed upstairs to his room, shutting the door behind him.

* * *

Finn had just fallen asleep later that night when he was woken by a knock on his bedroom door. "Come in," he called, assuming it was his stepbrother.

It was Rachel, though, and she walked in, looking around his room. She laughed nervously. "Yeah, this room is definitely more you. I don't even know how I thought for a second that Kurt's room was yours."

Finn sighed. He didn't know if he could deal with his growing feelings for Rachel at the moment. They still hadn't really talked since that day that she kissed him, but she was always around, thanks to her budding friendship with Kurt. "What do you want, Rachel?"

"I…um…Kurt told me about what Quinn said to you. He's angry. I assume that you are too," Rachel told him. "I'm sorry. Do you want me to try and talk to her?"

Finn shook his head. "No. Don't. She'll just get pissed and screw with your life too," he said. "And why the hell is Kurt telling you my business anyway?"

"I kind of forced it out of him."

"Well could you not do that next time? Thanks."

Rachel bit her lip as she tried not to cry. She knew that he was upset right now, not with her but with Quinn, but she couldn't help but take his harsh tone as an attack at her. "I'm sorry."

Finn sighed as he lifted his head from the pillow to look at her. She looked so adorable in her white sundress that was covered in bright red cherries. It was so different from what she usually wore, a lot more alike how she used to dress pre-Quinn, and he liked it. "Don't apologize, Rachel. I'm sorry for snapping at you."

"It's understandable, given the circumstances."

Finn smiled as he remembered about Rachel's auditions for the musical. They were the previous day and he hadn't had a chance to ask her about them. "Hey, how did the auditions go?"

Rachel smiled brightly. "They went marvelously. The director told me that I'm pretty much a shoo-in for Maria, off-the-record of course, and that this had to potential to be the LCPA's best summer youth production yet."

Finn was happy for her. "I don't want to say 'I told you so' but…"

Rachel giggled. "You told me so." She sat down on the edge of his bed and covered his hand with hers. "Thank you, Finn. For everything that you said to me. You know… that day in Kurt's room."

Finn sat up. "Rachel."

Rachel looked at him. "Yes?"

"That kiss wasn't a mistake, okay? And I really wish you'd stop calling it that."

"I kissed you while you are dating my best friend. I'm pretty sure that it was a mistake."

Finn shook his head. "It was wrong, yeah, but it definitely wasn't a mistake," he told her. "And I liked it. I liked it a lot."

Rachel blushed and played with a loose string on Finn's blanket. "I did too."

"Hey," Finn said, lifting her head up with his index finger. "Look at me."

Rachel did as she was told and when she looked up, Finn leaned down and pressed his lips to hers in a gentle kiss. She closed her eyes briefly in contentment and then forced herself to pull away. She shook her head. "Finn, we can't. You're dating my best friend…"

"And she doesn't give one fuck about me or my feelings," Finn told her and moved to kiss her again.

Rachel pushed him back gently. "Finn, don't do this just because you're upset with her right now."

"Upset?" Finn laughed bitterly. "I'm more than upset."

"Finn."

Finn sighed. "I'm not just doing this to get back at my bitch of a girlfriend, Rachel," he told her, using Kurt's beloved way of referring to Quinn. "I really want to kiss you. Rachel, please. I've been going crazy since that day in Kurt's room."

"Me too," Rachel admitted softly. She looked up at him and this time when he leaned in to kiss her, she allowed him to, humming blissfully as he massaged her lips with his own. She could get used to this, she thought.

Kurt didn't interrupt them this time and when Finn leaned her down gently on his bed, Rachel wrapped a leg around his back, pulled him down with her, and then flipped them over so that she was straddling him. Finn laughed against her lips and she smiled and pulled away as she said, "Sorry. I like to be in control. It's one of those qualities that Quinn tried so hard to get me to give up."

"Yeah, well you have no complaints here," Finn told her. "It's kind of hot. Really hot."

"Good," Rachel said and then reattached their lips. She moaned when she felt Finn's hands running over her exposed thighs.

"I really like this dress…" Finn told her, his voice ragged, as Rachel's lips traveled down his neck.

Rachel smiled. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. More you and less Quinn than what you're usually wearing."

"Well Quinn's not here to dictate my clothing choices so…"

"Quinn can stay in Florida and never come back as far as I am concerned," Finn said, getting angry again as he thought of his girlfriend. But then Rachel kissed him again and he was reminded of the beautiful girl that was on top of him and all thoughts of Quinn flew out of his head.

He flipped them over again so that he was on top and grinned at her. "Sorry, Rach. Can't let you have _all_ the control." He pressed a series of light kisses down her neck. When she let out a particularly loud moan when he kissed her just above her collarbone, he smirked and then refocused his attention, sucking and occasionally nipping at the skin there.

Rachel's hands had wandered their way up the back of his shirt. "Finn…" she moaned, her hands running over his skin. "Don't leave a mark…"

"Why? Quinn's not here to see it."

"But… mmmm that feels good… my dads will and they'll start… mmm… asking… questions," she moaned again and Finn laughed. "Shhh you gotta be quieter, Rach."

Rachel opened her eyes to send him a playful glare. "I'd like to see how quiet you would be if someone was kissing you like this."

"If that someone was you, then be my guest," Finn grinned down at her and he captured her lips in a sizzling kiss.

* * *

Finn and Rachel exchanged slow, lazy kisses, just exploring each other's mouths, as she laid on top of him, drawing circles on his chest with her finger.

"That was nice," Rachel commented when she rolled off of him.

Finn wrapped an arm around her waist. "Where you goin'?" he asked.

"It's late, my dads are probably wondering where I am…"

Finn peered at her. "You're not weirded out by this, are you?"

"Oh, I'm definitely weirded out," Rachel told him. She pressed another kiss to his lips when he frowned. "It's a good weird though."

Finn smiled. "Awesome."

Rachel gave him one last kiss, then got up, slipped her shoes back on and walked out of the room, closing the door softly behind her.

Finn closed his eyes, replaying the last half hour. "Wow…"

* * *

Once Rachel had left Finn's room, she headed back into Kurt's to get her purse, where she found him sitting on his bed, participating in an online auction.

He sent her a cheeky smile over his shoulder. "Nice to have you back, Rachel. Have fun?"

Rachel blushed. "Uh huh," she told him. "I have to go though… I'll call you later."

"See you later, you harlot."

"Kurt!"

Kurt laughed. "I'm just kidding."

"Mhmm, you better be," Rachel told him. She smiled and gave him a hug. "I'm really glad we're friends, Kurt."

Kurt smiled. "As am I, Rachel. As am I."

Rachel kissed him on the cheek, said one last goodbye, and then left the room.

* * *

**Ugh I suck at writing "love scenes" LOL sorry if I made you cringe with embarrassment for me and my pathetic attempt at a Finchel makeout haha**


	13. Chapter 13

**This chapter is kinda meh to me, but I hope you like it  
**

**DISCLAIMER - I don't own Glee or its characters.**

* * *

**uncovered**

_Wednesday, July 18, 2012_

For the past two weeks, Rachel had isolated herself from her "friends" even more. She spent all of her time with either Finn and/or Kurt, always in the safety of their house of course, and she was the happiest that she had been in a really long time.

She had just returned home after her morning jog around the neighborhood and plopped down on the living room couch with a tall glass of ice water when her phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey baby," she heard Finn say in a low voice, very unlike his own. "What are you wearing right now?"

Rachel giggled. "Um, a black sports bra and spandex shorts, both soaked thoroughly in sweat, and a pair of bright pink running shoes. Oh and my hair? Total mess."

"Ooooh, sexy."

"The sexiest," Rachel agreed with a laugh.

"Rach?" Finn asked, returning to his normal voice.

"Mhmm?"

"You doing anything today?"

"Nope. Why?"

"I wanna take you out somewhere."

Rachel bit her lip. She didn't want to disappoint him but… "Finn, I'd love for you to, but we can't have people see us. Quinn might find out and she'll make both our lives hell. She's already suspecting something since I've been ignoring some of her calls. I never do that."

"Don't worry, Rach. I know the perfect place. No one will find us there."

* * *

Later that afternoon, Finn and Rachel were stretched out across a picnic blanket, under a large oak tree overlooking a clear lake.

Rachel sighed contently. "This place is beautiful."

"Yeah," Finn nodded in agreement. "When my mom first started seeing Burt, I was really pissed at her. We had always had a really good relationship, we rarely fought 'cause we were the only people we had, you know? But then Burt started coming over a lot, she even let him sit in my dad's chair, and I felt like she was replacing him. Like she was gonna forget about him and then I would be the only one left to keep his memory alive. We started getting into a lot of arguments and Quinn either didn't understand or didn't care and Puck, we don't really get into that emotional stuff, although I probably should have talked to him 'cause his dad's gone too. Anyway, I needed a place to get away so I drove around Lima for hours until I finally found this place. My mom and I are cool now, but I've been coming ever since."

"No one's gonna find us here, right?" Rachel asked.

Finn shook his head. "Nah, I've been coming here for almost two years now and no one's come yet."

"Sorry," Rachel apologized. "I just…even though Quinn's not here, I still feel like she's here, you know. Watching my every move."

"Well, this can be the one place where Quinn can't find you, okay? She doesn't even know about it. You're the first person I've ever taken here," Finn told her, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head.

Rachel rolled over and rested her chin on his stomach to look up at him. "Aww," she replied. "What's so special about me that you brought me here?"

Finn shrugged and smiled down at her. "I don't know. There's just something about you."

"You are so sweet," Rachel said and scooted up a little so that she could press a light kiss to the underside of his jaw. "No wonder Quinn holds on to you so tightly."

Finn clenched his jaw as he thought about his girlfriend. "Yeah," he said. "Too tightly. She doesn't care about me, though. I'm starting to get that now."

"She cares about you, Finn," Rachel said reflexively. After years of defending Quinn's actions to everybody, she couldn't help it but do it now.

"Yeah right," Finn laughed bitterly. He sighed and ran a hand down Rachel's arm, leaving goosebumps behind. She shivered. "Are you cold?"

Rachel wrapped her arms around Finn's torso more tightly and snuggled up close to him. "No."

"You sure?"

"Mhmm," Rachel giggled. "It's the middle of July, Finn."

"Ugh, don't remind me," Finn replied. "Summer is going by too fast."

Rachel nodded in agreement, frowning. "Yeah. Quinn comes back next month." The thought kinda made her want to throw up.

Finn groaned. "Rach, baby, can we _please _stop talking about Quinn?"

"Baby?"

Finn blushed. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Rachel said. "In fact, I kinda like it. No one's called me baby before. Or Rach. I like your names for me."

Finn lifted an eyebrow in disbelief. "You mean to tell me that no one has called you those names before?"

Rachel giggled and shook her head. "Nope," she told him. "Quinn always calls me Rachie, which I hate by the way, my dads call me pumpkin and sweetie and names of that nature, and everyone else just calls me Rachel. And I guess my ex, Jesse, called me baby before, but the way he said it made me feel really gross and I banned him from calling me that ever again."

"Oh," Finn replied. "Well, I'm honored."

Rachel pressed her lips to his in response.

They spent the rest of the day at the lake, kissing and cuddling and talking about anything and everything. It was perfect.

_Tuesday, July 24, 2012_

Finn was stretched out across the living room couch, watching ESPN, when his stepbrother came downstairs. He pushed at Finn's feet. "Scoot over, Gigantor."

Finn complied and sat up to make room for Kurt. "Hey, Kurt, what's up?"

Kurt sighed sadly. "I need a boyfriend," he said. "I just want someone to care about me in that way, you know?"

"I'm sorry," Finn replied and patted Kurt awkwardly on the shoulder, not really sure how to make him feel better. "I'm sure you'll find someone."

Kurt just snorted in response. "And then I look at you, with your two girlfriends… it's just not fair." He sighed. "Life would be so much easier if I liked females."

"But then you wouldn't be you," Finn told him. "And two girlfriends?"

"Yeah, Quinn and Rachel," Kurt explained. "Your bitch of a girlfriend and your dirty little secret of a girlfriend."

Finn frowned. "Rachel's not a dirty little secret," he said. "And she's not my girlfriend either."

"What is she then?" Kurt asked. "Your booty call?"

"What? No! We've never even had sex…" Finn answered. He sighed. "I don't really know what we are."

"Well you might wanna figure that out," Kurt replied. "And quick, 'cause Quinn comes back in how many weeks now?"

"Four."

Kurt frowned. "Damn…" he cursed. "That's closer than I thought."

Finn groaned and let his head fall back against the back of the couch. "I am so screwed." His phone started ringing then, the ring tone that Quinn set for whenever she called blaring from the tiny speaker.

Kurt laughed. "Speak of the devil," he said. "I'll talk to you later, Finn." He sent him a sympathetic look and then got up and left the room.

Finn sighed as he picked up his phone and answered it. He and Quinn had rarely talked since they had that huge fight a month ago, he was still pissed at her and to be quite honest, she wasn't really the girl at the forefront of his mind anymore, but she was still technically his girlfriend and he felt bad for ignoring her while he was off with her best friend. "Hey Quinn," he said, trying not to sound as non-interested as really did.

"Finn," Quinn replied and Finn was surprised… she actually sounded kind of sad?

"Yeah. What's up?"

"We need to talk."

"Okay. Talk." He heard her take in a deep, ragged breath and it sounded like she had been crying. He started to get worried. "Is everything okay?"

"How can you ask that?" she wailed in response and Finn nodded to himself. Yep. She had definitely been crying.

"I'm sorry, Quinn," he told her. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"I happened," Quinn said. "I am _so_ sorry, Finn. I don't know what got into me. I was a bitch and I shouldn't have threatened you like that. I just… I can practically _feel _you slipping away from me, even when I am hundreds of miles away, I could feel it happening even before I left, and I… the thought of losing you, Finn, it makes me sick."

Finn felt his heart clench at her words. Even after all that had happened, he still cared about Quinn. "Quinn, what you did was really bad," he replied. "You know how much football means to me."

"I know, I know," Quinn agreed, sounding nothing like herself. "I wasn't thinking when I said that. I was just so angry and upset and so _desperate_. At that moment, I would have done anything to keep you from breaking up with me. So I said the first thing that popped into my head. And then I let my stupid pride get in the way of apologizing and reassuring you that I would never do something like that to you. I just… Finn, you're always talking about wanting to get out of Lima and how you're gonna get that football scholarship and it's gonna be your ticket out of here and… and I don't think you realize how much it hurts when you say those things. It feels like you not only want to get away from Lima, but from me. You know what I want our future to be, Finn, and you going to only God knows where is not part of it."

"Quinn…"

"I hate not talking to you, Finn," she continued. "I hate it so much. I just want us to be normal again. I want us to be in love again. Happy. Like we were before."

"Quinn—" Finn tried to interject again, but Quinn wouldn't let him.

"I'll be back in a month," she said. "A month and then can we try and work things out between us? Please don't do anything rash while I'm away. Just… can you hold on for a little while longer? I am confident that we can repair our damaged relationship and even come out stronger than we were before."

The way she was talking to him… she actually sounded like she cared. And that confused Finn. He thought about Rachel. _Dammit. _"I… Quinn, I don't know."

"_Please, Finn,_" Quinn begged, sounding so unlike herself that Finn was caught off guard and he gave in.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay."

Quinn let out an audible sigh of relief. "Good. Great," she replied and Finn could practically hear her smile over the phone. "I love you, Finn."

"Yeah. Me too."

"Skype session later?" Quinn asked. "I miss your face."

"Yeah, sure," Finn answered. "Hey, um, I gotta go, okay? We'll talk later."

"Okay. Bye babe!"

"Bye."

Finn ended the call and frowned. "What the hell did I just do?"

* * *

Rachel had spent the afternoon in the basement, going through her things from her life pre-Quinn. She never had the heart to throw out all of her stuff, especially not all of her Broadway memorabilia, and instead packed them away into boxes. She never told Quinn and as she took looked through the box labeled _Barbra _, she was glad that she hadn't. Quinn would have surely found some way to get rid of it and she would have been devastated.

With her dads' help, she carried all of the boxes up to her room, where she unpacked them. She made a spot in the back of her closet for all of her prized animal sweaters, cleared away one of her shelves of all things Cheerios and instead dedicated it to all things Broadway, and she even hung her Broadway posters back up on her wall.

Quinn was definitely gonna be pissed when she came back and saw the redecorating that Rachel did, but Rachel didn't care. It was time for her to take back control of her own life.

Rachel dusted off her precious copy of _Funny Girl_, popped into her DVD player, and stretched out on her bed to get lost in the amazing world of Fanny Brice. For the first time in years, she let herself really imagine going to New York after high school and following her dreams of being on Broadway.

Rachel had just finished the movie and was flipping through old photo albums when her phone started ringing. She picked it up and looked at the caller ID. _Quinn. _She let out a sigh. "Fabulous," she muttered to herself and then answered the phone. "Hey Quinn."

"Rachie!" Quinn trilled on the other end. "It's been _forever _since we last talked. I miss my best friend."

Hearing Quinn say that made Rachel realize that yeah, she kinda missed her best friend too. She smiled. "I know. How's Florida?"

"Boring," Quinn said. "I'd much rather be back in Lima with you and Finn."

And just like that, her good mood disappeared. "I'm sure it's a lot more fun there than it is here," she said. "And, um, are you and Finn on good terms again then?"

"Yes!" Quinn exclaimed happily. "I called him earlier, we talked, and now we're good again. We have a Skype date in a couple minutes, actually."

The pure joy she heard in Quinn's voice made Rachel want to throw the picture that was sitting on her dresser of her and Quinn at the fair two summers ago against the wall, shattering it into pieces. She hated Quinn. She hated her _so _much. She didn't deserve Finn and she definitely didn't deserve to happy with him. And then she hated Finn. How dare he spend the past month with her just to go right back to Quinn, even after she threatened him like that? But most of all she hated herself. Yeah, Quinn was a bitch sometimes. But she was still her best friend and while Quinn was off on vacation visiting her grandmother, she was here in Lima, sneaking around with her best friend's boyfriend. What kind of person did that?

"Quinn…" Rachel started, her voice filled with guilt. She had to tell her. She had to tell Quinn about her and Finn, what they had been doing.

"Rachie, I'm sorry, but I really have to go," Quinn said, interrupting her.

_Was she serious? _"Oh," Rachel replied. "Um, okay. I'll talk to you later."

"Toodles!"

Rachel sighed as she stared at her phone. She had to end whatever it was that was going on with Finn. It wasn't fair to her, it wasn't fair to him, and it definitely wasn't fair to Quinn.

* * *

**Such a manipulator, that Quinn. Smh. lol**


	14. Chapter 14

**uncovered**

_Wednesday, July 25, 2012_

Rachel took a deep breath as she knocked on the Hudson-Hummel's front door. "You can do this," she said to herself. "It'll be fine. Just tell him what you need to say and then go before you do something stupid like cry."

"Talking to yourself again, I see."

Her head whipped up at the sound of Finn's voice and she saw him standing in the open doorway, his dimples on full display. _Damn him. _She blushed. "Hi, Finn."

"Hey," Finn replied, looking at her. He could tell that there was something wrong and he shifted uncomfortably. "Um, you wanna come in?"

She nodded. "Yes, thank you." She cringed. Did she really have to sound so formal?

Finn closed the door behind them and they walked into the living room. "Do you want something to drink? I got my mom to buy some of that tea that you like so much so that you'd have something to drink when you're over here." Of course, that was before Quinn had called and he was more confused than he had ever been in his life.

Rachel's head hurt. "We need to talk," she blurted out.

"Oh," Finn said. "Do you wanna talk upstairs or…?"

"Down here would be preferable."

"Okay," Finn said. He walked over to the couch and sat down. He waited until Rachel sat down on the couch, as far away from him as she possibly could, he noted, and then asked, "So, what do you wanna talk about?"

Rachel stared down at her hands. "This thing between us, whatever it is, has to stop," she said. "You have a girlfriend, my best friend, and going behind her back like this… it's not right."

"I… I don't know what to say."

Rachel looked up at him. "Say that you agree," she told him. "I know that you and Quinn talked and you're not fighting anymore or whatever so you don't have to fool around with me to get back at her anymore."

Finn furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Is that what she thought? "Rachel…" he started. "I… I wasn't… I care about you."

"And you love Quinn," Rachel replied. "You love Quinn and she's your girlfriend and what we are doing is wrong and it needs to stop. You know that."

"I… we'll still be friends, right?" Maybe he was being selfish, but he didn't want to give Rachel up completely. She was one of the few people that he could actually be himself with.

Rachel hadn't expected him to give in that easily and tears started to pool in her eyes. She was hurt and then she felt foolish because all he was doing was what she had come here to do. She hurriedly wiped them away. "Of course, Finn." She leaned over, gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, and then hurried out of the house and back into her car where she let the tears fall.

_Wednesday, August 1, 2012_

It had been a week since Rachel had called things off between her and Finn and they both missed each other terribly. Although they had agreed to be friends, it was just too hard seeing each other so they avoided one another completely. It had only been a week, but it felt like forever.

Rachel was still friends with Kurt though (no way was she giving up a friendship with someone who appreciated the art of Broadway just as much as she did, not even for a boy) and although they now spent most of their time together at Rachel's house, she still visited the Hudson-Hummel home occasionally. Thankfully for her, Kurt made sure to schedule their time together at his house for when Finn was at work at his dad's tire shop.

When she wasn't spending time with Kurt, she was with her fellow Cheerios. Apparently, one of them had blabbed to Quinn about how she was avoiding them and had spent zero time with them that summer so now Quinn was forcing her to spend at least an hour with them every day for the rest of the summer.

"_It's essential for our success to create bonds with our team, Rachie. And besides, you're my second in command! Since I am not there, you have to take over my duties. I can't believe that you've been ignoring your obligations to the Cheerios, Rachel. What have you been doing all summer?" Quinn had asked her._

_Rachel didn't have an answer for that. Instead she told Quinn, "I don't even want to be part of the Cheerios, Quinn! You're the one who forced me to join. And why didn't you make Santana your second in command? She hates that you chose me over her."_

"_Because you're amazing at it, Rachel," Quinn had replied. "The team would be lost without you. Plus, cheerleading takes up so much of my time. It's the perfect way for us to spend quality best friend time together."_

_Rachel laughed. "Right. That's it." No, Quinn had made her join because it'd be better for her reputation. But Quinn would never admit to that. _

_Quinn had let out a frustrated sigh and Rachel could have sworn that she even heard a growl. "Thanks to your thoughtlessness, we have a lot of work to do once I get back. You say you hate the Cheerios now, imagine how it's gonna be when I'm back in town."_

"_Quinn…" Rachel had tried to interject, but Quinn cut her off._

"_And I expect you to spend at least an hour of quality time with the Cheerios every day until I get back. I don't care what it is. Going over routines, painting nails, going to the movies… Just don't ignore them like you have been. I have to go now. Bye Rachie!" she finished cheerfully, and then disconnected the call._

So now there Rachel was, sitting on Marie's bed, squished in between Santana and Marie, painting her toenails candy apple red, and desperately wishing that she was in Kurt's room instead, doing something more substantial than discussing who's the best kisser on the football team.

"I made out with Puckerman once. He's, like, so experienced. It was amazing," Marie gushed.

Santana glared at her over Rachel's head. "He doesn't want you, Marie. Get the hell over it all ready."

"Oh yeah?" Marie asked back. "Well he clearly doesn't want you either."

"That's not what he was saying last night," Santana replied with a smirk.

Marie frowned and Rachel saw tears beginning to form in her eyes. She glared at Santana. "Must you be so rude?" she asked, wrapping an arm around Marie, careful not to smudge her freshly painted nails.

"It's her fault for crushing on my man," Santana answered.

"He's not your man," Marie told her. "You guys aren't even official. And he was totally making out with Natalie behind the gas station last week."

Santana just rolled her eyes and returned her attention to her nails.

From on her spot on the floor, Brittany said, "I bet Finn is an amazing kisser. His lips look so full and soft. They're not fish lips like a lot of the guys at our school."

Rachel froze. _Oh g-d. I really need to get out of here._

Marie gasped. "You can't talk about Quinn's boyfriend like that."

"Is Quinn here?" Santana asked. "Yeah, didn't think so. And I made out with Finnocence once." She shrugged. "It was okay."

"Okay?" Rachel blurted out in disbelief and then blushed a deep shade of red. _Crap._

Santana gave her a weird look. "Um…yeah. But we were in seventh grade and he was probably just getting the hang of things so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt that he's improved. Otherwise I feel bad for Q."

Rachel was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. "You know, I think Marie was right. We shouldn't be talking about Finn like this. I don't think that Quinn would approve of us discussing his kissing abilities."

Santana ignored her. "Hobbit, I know Q has given you the deets on her and The Golly Green Giant's sex life. Spill."

"Ooooh yeah," Brittany and the rest of the team agreed. Even Marie was staring at Rachel intently, waiting for some juicy gossip.

"I…um…" Rachel stood up abruptly. She had to get out of there. She could not handle talking about Finn's kissing abilities. Especially since she knew firsthand. And she definitely could not handle talking about Finn and Quinn being together… like _that_. For one, Quinn would kill her if and when she found out and two, the thought of them being sexually involved made her want to vomit. "Actually, I totally forgot. I promised my dads that I would help them with something. It was fun, see you guys tomorrow… bye!" She shoved her shoes back on her feet, not even caring about her wet nail polish and then hurried out of the house.

* * *

Finn on the other hand, spent most of his time either locked up in his room playing video games, getting drunk with Puck and the guys from the football team, or at Burt's tire shop.

"Dude, where the hell have you been all summer?" Puck asked him one night when he and a couple of the guys from the football team, Sam Evans and Mike Chang, where out in the woods by the football field, sitting around a fire, nursing cans of beer.

"Yeah," Sam agreed. "It's like you've been avoiding us or something."

"I've just been really tired lately," Finn said after he finished off his third beer and was opening another one.

"Awww, do you miss your girlfriend?" Puck asked teasingly.

Finn just sighed. "Yeah, something like that." Funny thing was, he wasn't thinking about Quinn. He was thinking about Rachel and how he'd much rather be at the lake with her right now.

"Hudson, you're such a girl now," Puck told him. "What's next? You're gonna go home and blast some T-Swift?"

Finn shrugged. "Whatever." Puck was his best friend, but he really didn't feel like putting up with his shit right now.

"Hey man," Mike said to Puck. "Taylor Swift is cool."

Puck laughed. "Dude, my whole team is a bunch of pussies. No wonder we used to suck so hard."

Sam giggled drunkenly. He was on his sixth beer. "That's what she said."

Finn just shook his head in disbelief. He wished that he could get as drunk as Sam was, but he wasn't about to risk blabbing his mouth about Rachel and how hot her legs were and how hot she sounded when he kissed that one spot behind her ear. He was not accountable for anything that he said while drunk. "We sucked because we had Tanaka as a coach. He didn't do shit."

Puck nodded. "True." He was quiet for a while and then he looked up at Finn, who was staring at the ground forlornly. "Hey man," he said. "You really miss Quinn that much?"

Finn continued to stare at the ground. "I'm fine."

"Dude, I'm your best friend."

"Dude, we don't talk about shit like this. That's how our friendship works."

Puck shrugged and knocked back the rest of his beer. "Fine. Just trying to help."

"Well you can't." _Not with this._

* * *

When Finn finally made it back home, he crashed on the couch next to Kurt, who was watching a documentary on some fashion designer who he didn't know the name of.

"Where's Mom and Burt?"

"They went out to dinner. I think Carole said something about them staying at a motel for the night though."

Finn cringed. "Ew."

"Tell me about it."

They were quiet for a while Kurt resumed watching television until Finn became bored and asked, "So… what's up?"

"Nothing really. I am bored out of my mind," Kurt told him. "Oh and just so you know, Tina is finally back from California, so she and Mercedes are sleeping over on Friday. I was gonna invite Rachel too, she really needs to get to know 'Cedes and Tina, but I don't want to make things awkward between you two."

Finn felt a pang of sadness as he thought of Rachel. He missed her. A lot. "It's fine, Kurt. I don't want get in the way of your fun or whatever."

Kurt stared at him. "How are you doing, Finn?" he asked. "I mean, I know how Rachel feels about the whole situation but we haven't really talked in a while and I don't know how you feel."

Finn sighed and shrugged. "I don't know, man. All I know is that Rachel came over here last week talking about how we needed to stop whatever we were doing and even though that's the last thing that I want to do, I agreed anyway because I just want what's best for Rachel."

"Why the hell won't you just break up with Quinn?"

"I can't, Kurt!" Finn told him. "You don't understand."

"I don't understand," Kurt agreed. "That is precisely why I need you to explain this to me. You clearly have feelings for Rachel. And obviously you don't love Quinn, at least not as much as you used to since for the past month you've been fooling around with her best friend. Even though I hate Quinn, cheating isn't cool, Finn. You should just break up with her and then you're free to be with the girl that you clearly want to be with."

"It's not that easy, Kurt," Finn said. "Rachel is Quinn's best friend and if she is the reason that we break up… she'd make Rachel's life hell."

"Okay, so just tell her that she is a total bitch and you're sick of it. You don't even have to mention Rachel's name."

"She'll find out somehow. Definitely if I get together with her right after."

Kurt sighed. "True. Damn, why is Rachel even friends with that girl?" he asked, mostly to himself.

"And then there's still that whole blackmail thing hanging over my head. Yeah, Quinn said that she wouldn't do it, but I don't trust that. I don't trust her. When Quinn wants something, she'll do whatever it takes to get it," Finn said, thinking of how his girlfriend got her dad to buy her the leads in the musicals.

"You know, that's such a great foundation for a relationship right there. Distrust and lies. Maybe I should be taking notes," Kurt said snidely.

Finn rolled his eyes before continuing. "And I don't know, Kurt. Quinn isn't even here right now. She's in a completely different state. Maybe she was right. Maybe I should wait until she gets back before I even think about breaking up with her. Yeah, I like Rachel. I like Rachel a lot. And she makes me really happy. But, I used to be happy like that with Quinn. I used to love her. I still kinda do, I think."

"You think?" Kurt snorted. "I bet Quinn would be thrilled to hear that."

"Anyway," Finn continued. "I just… breaking up with Quinn, I can't do that right now. Not yet at least."

"Well maybe you should have thought about that before you kissed Rachel."

"She kissed me first!"

"Yeah, but you wooed your way into her heart with _my _Broadway memorabilia. What did you think was going to happen?"

Finn sighed. "I don't know. I never thought that things would get this complicated though."

* * *

**Remember when I said that Finn pissed me off sometimes in my story? lol this is one of those times**


	15. Chapter 15

**I'm sure a lot of you have heard the news about Cory, but I just want to ask you to all send your thoughts and prayers to him and his loved ones. :( **

**DISCLAIMER - I don't own Glee or its characters.**

* * *

**uncovered**

_Thursday, August 2, 2012_

"Oh my gosh you are not going to believe what happened this morning," Kurt said excitedly as soon as he opened the front door and saw Rachel standing there.

Rachel hurried inside before anyone (read: anyone who would tell Quinn) could see her and then turned to Kurt who looked like he was ready to do back flips. "Is your brother here?" she asked.

Kurt waved his hand dismissively. "He's in his room," he answered. "But never mind that, we have much more important matters to discuss."

"Kurt!" Rachel wailed. "You told me that Finn wasn't going to be here!"

"I know, I know. He wasn't supposed to be though. But this morning he woke up, ate a really quick breakfast, and then went right back into his bedroom and never came back out. I warned him that you're coming over though so you don't have anything to worry about."

Rachel frowned. "I'm sorry, Kurt."

"What for?"

"All the awkward between Finn and I. It must be super annoying for you to have to deal with."

"It's fine," Kurt said, shrugging. "Now can I _please _tell you my exciting news?"

Rachel laughed. "Go ahead."

Kurt took a deep breath. "Okay," he started. "So I as at the Lima Bean earlier this morning picking up a coffee for my dad and I met a guy."

Rachel gasped and hit him on the shoulder. "Are you serious?" she squealed.

Kurt smiled dreamily. "One hundred percent," he told her. "His name is Blaine Anderson and he has the most gorgeous eyes and he is new in town and he's going to McKinley this year and ugh, he's perfect."

"Did you get his number?" Rachel asked. "Please tell me that you got his number."

"I did!" Kurt answered. "I might call him later. Or should I wait for him to call me first?"

"Take the initiative and call him first. He'll find that sexy," Rachel advised. "Don't sound too eager though or that might turn him off. Remember, you just met this guy."

Kurt smirked. "Did Miss Fabray teach you that?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Kurt. I do have my fair share of potential suitors. Just because I never actually do anything with them doesn't mean that they aren't there." _Yes, actually. She did teach me that. _

"Hey, Rachel?" Kurt asked. "Do you want to sleep over here tomorrow night? Mercedes and Tina are and we're gonna have a movie night and eat popcorn and gossip about boys and it would be the perfect way for you to get to know them better."

"I don't know…" Rachel replied. Quinn already would never approve of her friendship with Kurt. She really didn't want to form attachments with other people that she'd potentially never be able to speak to again. Besides, Finn lived in the same house as Kurt and she definitely didn't want to run into him. "Actually, I promised the Cheerios that I'd hang out with them tomorrow night, so no can do. I'm sorry, Kurt."

Kurt pouted. "Okay. Maybe another time then."

Rachel sighed. She hated seeing Kurt so disappointed and she definitely rather spend her time with Kurt and his friends than with the Cheerios, but what choice did she have? Quinn was coming back in a couple of weeks. She'd been living in her own little bubble for the past couple of months, being friends with Kurt, allowing herself to start to dream about Broadway and New York again and working on the musical… She closed her eyes as a pang of sadness hit her. Falling in love with Finn. It was time for her to get back to the real world, though. "Yeah. Maybe."

* * *

Finn sighed as he heard Kurt and Rachel talking in the living room. He missed her so much. He had just thrown on some clothes and was about to sneak out the back door, when his laptop binged. It was Quinn, requesting a Skype session. He sighed as he contemplated whether he should stay and talk to her or not. He really didn't feel like it and it'd be super weird with Rachel so close and everything but at the same time, he hadn't talked to her in a while and believe it not, he sort of kind of missed her. Talking with Kurt the previous day about how he maybe still kind of had feelings for Quinn made him realize that.

He put a smile on his face as he turned his camera toward him so he could talk to Quinn. "Hey Quinn."

"Finn!" Quinn replied cheerfully. "Hi! It feels like it's been forever since we talked."

"Yeah," Finn agreed.

"So, listen, I experienced the most amazing thing yesterday…"

Finn continued to talk to Quinn for about twenty more minutes and he actually kind of enjoyed himself for once. After he said goodbye, he felt more confused than ever.

_Monday, August 6, 2012_

Rachel and the rest of the Cheerios had just finished a grueling practice.

"Rachel, it's summer," one of the Cheerios whined. "Why are we practicing so hard? Isn't this supposed to be our time off?"

"You guys have gotten off easy," Rachel told her. "Not that I am proud of it, but I have been neglecting the team pretty much all summer and Quinn is going to be super pissed if she comes back from Florida and our team has fallen apart. So we're practicing. We are going to be practicing four days a week for three hours each day from now until school starts back up. If you can't handle that, then maybe you should reconsider being apart of this family."

"Ooooh, authoritative Rachel. I like it," said a voice from behind her.

Rachel whirled around and saw Puck walking up to the group. "Are you _spying _on us, Noah?"

"No, not spying," Puck told her. "Just merely admiring the view."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "You are disgusting," she replied. "Don't you have friends to hang out or do you have nothing better to do than come here and harass me?"

"Actually, I'm on my way to go pick up Hudson right now. We're driving up to Lake Erie with a couple other guys on the team. My uncle owns a lake house so we're gonna camp out up there for a couple of days. You wanna come?"

Rachel's stomach twisted at the sound of Finn's name, but she tried to not to let it show. She scoffed. "No thank you."

Puck shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said. "It's supposed to be a 'team bonding' thing or some shit anyway."

"Wow, the football team gets to relax at a lake house and we're stuck practicing cheers that I can do in my fucking sleep. How nice," Santana sniped.

Rachel whirled around on her. "Santana, if you have a problem with the way I am running the team, you can take it up with Quinn."

Santana rolled her eyes. "Q doesn't scare me, Hobbit." She turned to Puck. "You have room for one more?"

Puck grinned. "Depends. You planning on bringing that hot little bikini that you wore at your party earlier this summer?" he asked.

"Depends. Do you want me to?" Santana asked back.

"Hell yes."

"Then yes, I am bringing it. I just bought another one last weekend too. I am sure you'll love that one even more."

"Awesome."

Santana turned back to Rachel, who was watching the whole exchange with her mouth dropped open. "I guess I'll be missing the next couple of practices."

Rachel could not believe it. "Are you kidding me? Quinn will not stand for this. You can't just jet off whenever you want to! How is that fair to the rest of the team?"

"I'll handle Q, don't worry about it," Santana told her. She turned to the rest of the Cheerios. "Ciao!" She grabbed her bag and then started walking to Puck's truck. "Hurry up, Puckerman!"

Puck sent Rachel a wink and then hurried off after Santana.

Rachel groaned. Why was Quinn doing this to her?

* * *

**Poor Finn bb so confused... grrrrr lol I'm just kidding. Guys, don't be /too/ mad at Finn. You have to remember that once upon a time, he did have strong feelings for Quinn and they don't just go away like that even if that person is hurting you. And its easier for Rachel to be so sure of her feelings for him because she doesn't have anyone else (poor bb)**

**But yess please pray for and/or (if you're not religious) support Cory 3**


	16. Chapter 16

**don't own glee or its characters**

* * *

**uncovered**

_Wednesday, August 8, 2012_

"I get back in thirteen days, Finn!" Quinn exclaimed over the phone.

Finn tried to muster as much excitement as he could as he said, "I know, Quinn. I can't wait to see you." Truth was, the closer the day when Quinn returns to Lima came, the more worried he got. He couldn't help but feel like there was no way that she wouldn't find out about him and Rachel. In fact, he was surprised that she hadn't found out already. Or maybe she was just playing dumb and waiting to see him in person so that he would feel the full effect of her wrath.

"You're gonna meet me at the airport, right?" Quinn asked. "I want you to be the first thing that I see when I get back."

"Of course, Quinn."

"Finn…" Quinn whined. "You don't sound excited at all. We haven't seen each other all summer and you can't even be bothered to be happy that I'm finally coming back home?"

"I am happy, Quinn."

"Then act like it!"

Finn was getting frustrated. Why was she always telling him what to do and how to feel? So fucking what if he didn't sound excited. He had just gotten back from his trip with Puck and the guys (she didn't even bother to ask how his trip was… it's always all about Quinn) and he was extremely close to falling asleep. She should be glad that he had even bothered to call her. "Quinn, I'm tired. Can we talk later?"

"Too tired to talk to your girlfriend? I thought that you loved me!"

"Quinn, are you kidding me?"

"Does it sound like I am kidding?"

"What the hell is your problem? I'm tired and I'll call you back in the morning. I don't understand what the big deal is!"

"The big deal is that you never seem to want to talk to me anymore. Boo hoo you had a long trip with your Neanderthal football buddies and now you're sleepy. Oh well you should have slept on the way back."

"I was driving!"

"Well you should have made Puck drive."

"He drove on the way there!"

"Don't care, Finn. I'm your girlfriend. You should always make time for me. And if that means forcing Puckerman to drive so that you are awake enough to talk to me when you get back, then you should have forced Puckerman to drive. I'm sure he would have understood."

"You do realize that you're fucking insane, right?"

"Excuse me?"

"You are fucking insane, Quinn," Finn repeated. "Its times like these when I wonder what the hell I am doing with you."

"How am I insane? Please explain."

"Well, there's the fact that you don't seem to realize that the world does not revolve around you. And you're manipulative. And you're a bitch. And a terrible best friend to Rachel and—" _Crap. I didn't mean to say that. _

"Have you been talking to Rachel?"

"Um…no?"

"Don't lie to me, Finn. Marie told me that she saw you two hanging around the LCPA a while ago. Has she been talking shit about me?"

"No, Quinn," Finn told her. "Dammit, can you just calm down?"

"No, I will not calm down. Rachel is supposed to be my best friend! I see she's made new friends now though. I bet its your stupid fag of a brother who is planting these thoughts in her head."

Finn was livid. "I am done talking to you. Goodnight, Quinn," he said in a stony voice and then hung up the phone.

* * *

Rachel was exhausted. She didn't realize just how much of a toll that these extra Cheerio practices would have on her. She'd pretty much been lying around on her ass all summer long so now all this physical activity? Definitely having an effect.

She sighed as she changed out of her workout clothes into a nice, freshly washed set of pajamas. Usually she would have completely her nightly bedtime regime before climbing into bed, but that night she didn't even care. She just wanted to get some much needed rest.

She had just laid her head against her pillow and settled into her covers when her phone rang. She groaned as she reached for her phone. She didn't even have to look at the caller ID to see who it was. It was currently blaring the ring tone that Quinn had personally picked out herself, _"I'm Flawless, Bitch." _She sighed as she answered it. "Hey Quinn, can this be quick? Cheerios practice was grueling today, you're gonna be so proud of us when you get back although you might need to have a few words with Santana, and I am exhausted."

Quinn ignored her. "Why the hell are you spending time with Kurt Hummel?"

Rachel's stomach dropped and a lump formed in her throat. "What? I—what are you talking about, Quinn?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Rachel," Quinn said, her voice scarily calm. Rachel could practically feel Quinn's anger through the phone, though. "I cannot believe it. Kurt Hummel? Are you trying to ruin everything that you have accomplished over the past three years?"

"I was careful, Quinn," Rachel tried to defend herself. "No one saw us."

Quinn laughed harshly. "Clearly you weren't careful enough. How do you think I found out?"

"Who told you?" Rachel asked.

"Does that matter?"

"Yes, Quinn. It does."

"Fine," Quinn said. "It was Marie."

"Marie?" Rachel asked in surprise. That was the last thing she was expecting. Marie was always so nice to her. She never suspected that she was Quinn's rat.

"Yes, Marie," Quinn answered. "You know what Marie also told me?"

Rachel was scared to hear the answer. "What?"

"That she saw you and Finn hanging around the LCPA. And that you are playing the lead in this summer's musical. What the hell, Rachel?"

"Finn and I are just friends," Rachel said quickly. _Oh g-d, oh g-d. This cannot be happening. Please don't let everything blow up in my face now. I still have a year left in this town. At least let me get out first._

Quinn laughed dismissively. "Oh, I don't doubt that, Rachie. Like Finn would ever be interested in you that way. Besides, he loves me. He is completely devoted to me."

Rachel bit her lip to keep from laughing and telling Quinn that it seemed less that she believed that fact was true and more like she was trying to convince herself that it was. _What is my problem? This is my best friend. My extreme bitch of a best friend, but my best friend nonetheless. When did I get so heartless?_

Rachel opened her mouth to spill everything, to beg for Quinn's forgiveness, to promise her that she'd never speak a word to Finn again, but then Quinn continued to talk.

"Rachel, I don't know what has gotten in your head this summer, but your… your _repulsive _behavior needs to stop if you want to continue to live the amazing life that you are living. Because I hope you realize that with one snap of my fingers, I can make your life at school a living hell. You've seen me do it, Rachel, so don't doubt my abilities."

"Quinn-" Rachel tried to interrupt, but Quinn ignored her.

"I still can't believe it," her voice laced with disgust. "Kurt Hummel? McKinley High's only out gay? The boy who still looks like he is ten years old? The boy who wears the most hideous things and has the gall to call it fashion? The boy who-"

Rachel couldn't stand this. "Yes, Kurt Hummel" she interrupted Quinn. "You know, your boyfriend's stepbrother? How would he feel if he knew that you talking about Kurt this way?"

"Oh, he would get over it," Quinn answered dismissively. "And why would you tell him anyway? I'm your best friend, not him. It is me who you have the loyalty to, not him."

Rachel took in a deep, calming breath to keep herself from exploding and telling Quinn just exactly what she and everyone else in Lima thought of her.

"You are not to talk to Kurt Hummel ever again, do you understand?" Quinn ordered and Rachel could not believe it. Was Quinn actually telling her how to live her own life? Oh wait. She could believe it. That was Quinn's MO. That was what their whole friendship consisted of. Quinn telling her what to do. She was sick of it.

"And you are going to go to the director and drop out of the musical. ASAP," Quinn continued.

Rachel's mouth dropped open. "What? I can't do that, Quinn. The musical is in _eight days_. I can't just abandon them now. Not when they need me the most."

"I'm sure they have an understudy that is more than capable of taking over."

"Well, yes, Marley is amazing, she is definitely going to be very successful in the future, but that isn't the point, Quinn! I was _born_ to play Maria! No one can play that part better than I can. If I drop out, the musical won't be as great as it could be! This is the last summer musical that I can take apart in! It needs to be flawless!"

Quinn laughed. "I'm pretty sure that I could play that part better than you can, Rachie. There's a reason that I am the one who has been cast as the lead since I moved to Lima."

"You're right and it has nothing to do with your abilities and more to do with the fact that I usually don't audition for the lead and your father gives generous donations to the center," Rachel told her. "You're just pissed, Quinn, because you know that when people see me, they'll realize that I am so much more superior than you!"

"Rachel, you might want to stop while you're ahead," Quinn warned. "I might be gone now, and you might feel like you can do whatever you want, but I will be back in less than two weeks. And you might regret thinking that you're better than me. Because you're not. I'm why you are where you are right now, Rachel. Don't forget that."

Rachel couldn't take it anymore. _Who does she think she is_? "I am done talking to you, Quinn. I'll talk to you later," she said and then ended the call before Quinn could protest. And to think that just a couple minutes earlier, she had felt guilty and was ready to grovel at Quinn's feet. Wouldn't she have loved that? Well. Rachel might have done that a couple months ago, but now she knew what it was like to be without Quinn's looming presence hovering over her all the time. And she was perfectly capable without her. She didn't need Quinn.

_Why don't you just end your friendship with her already then?_ , a tiny voice in the back of her head.

"Shut up," she muttered into the darkness. _Oh great, now I'm talking to myself. _She picked up her phone and again and sent a quick text to Kurt.

**I'm coming over. I'll be there in fifteen. –R**

_Everything, okay?_

**I'll explain when I get there.**

_Want me to pull out the Barbara DVD's?_

**Yes, please. You're the best, Kurt.**

_Tell me something I don't know. :-x love you, Rachel_

Rachel smiled as she read the text from Kurt. Already she felt better. Quinn was _so _wrong about him. He was amazing and she was just jealous because she knew that he was going to go so much further in life than she was. And her too. She couldn't wait to be a star on Broadway, with everyone begging for her attention. And when Quinn came knocking on her doorstop, wanting some of her success, she'd slam the door right in her face.

* * *

Rachel was stretched out across Kurt's comfy king-sized bed, a bowl of lemon sorbet in her hands, as she waited for Kurt to get back from popping some more popcorn. She sighed contently as she swallowed another spoonful of sorbet. This was what a friendship was supposed to be like. She was so glad that she met Kurt. Well, she had always known who he was, but she's so glad that she really got to know him. Of course, she wouldn't have if she hadn't have gotten close to Finn, but she preferred not to think about that. It was too late though. She was already thinking about how close in proximity she was to Finn. He was just downstairs in the basement. In his bedroom. She blushed as she remembered the last time she'd been down there. They didn't have sex, but they had come pretty close. She closed her eyes as the memory of Finn's strong, but gentle and _very _capable hands washed over her. The memory of the feel of his soft lips, against every inch of skin that he could possibly reach…

"Wow, is the sorbet that good?" Kurt asked, snapping Rachel out of her reverie. "It's not even name brand."

Rachel blushed as she looked over to where Kurt stood in the doorway, a bowl of popcorn in his hands and a smirk on his face. "Um, yes. Very delicious."

"Right…" Kurt said knowingly as he walked into the room and sat back down on his bed. "That look on your face had everything to do with the sorbet and nothing to do with my brother?"

"Kurt, please, don't."

"Rachel, if you want to talk to him, go talk to him," Kurt told her. "He misses you too, you know."

"I… it's just too painful," Rachel replied. "Besides, he loves Quinn. Not me."

Kurt laughed. "Okay, if that's what you want to believe."

Rachel bit her lip as she looked up at Kurt. "Do you think he really wants to talk to me?" she asked. "And you won't be mad that I'm totally abandoning you?"

"Yes and no, I won't be mad," Kurt answered. "As long as you sleep over tomorrow night. I don't give one fuck about those Cheerios; you are meeting my best friends."

Rachel laughed. "I don't give one fuck about them either, Kurt. I'd love to come."

"Awesome. Now go talk to my brother."

Rachel wrapped her arms around Kurt in a tight hug. "I am so glad we became friends, Kurt Hummel. You mean the world to me."

"Same here, Rachel. Same here."

* * *

Rachel took a deep breath to steady her nerves before knocking on the door to Finn's bedroom. The door swung open, revealing Finn, who was standing there in just a pair of sweatpants.

"Rachel!" he exclaimed in surprise. "I…uh…what're you doing here?"

Rachel tried not to stare at Finn's bare chest. "Um, I…" she stuttered, trying to get the words out. "I… I just really missed you, Finn. It's been a really long two weeks without you."

A small smile made its way across Finn's face. "Yeah," he agreed.

Rachel looked up at him nervously. "Um," she said again. "Can I come in?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah! Of course," Finn said and stepped to the side so that Rachel could make her way into his room.

Rachel pointed to a set of drums that were sitting in the corner of the bedroom. "I didn't know you played the drums."

Finn rubbed the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, been playing them since I was a little kid. That's the reason my mom moved me down here into the basement when she married Burt and we moved to this house. They can get pretty loud."

Rachel giggled. "I bet."

Finn walked over to her, took her hand and led her over to his bed, where they sat down. "They're a good way to blow off steam. Towards the end of the school year, um, Quinn and I got in this huge fight. I was so pissed. Usually I just bang away on them a little bit and then I feel better, but I don't know. I got carried away and burst a hole right through the middle of them. I had to get a new set. That's why you've never seen them in here before."

"Can you play for me?"

"Right now?" Finn asked.

Rachel nodded. "Mhmm. I wanna see you play."

Finn stood up and sat down behind his drums. "It's been a while since I really played so I might be a little rusty. And it's not like I'm in a band or anything, so I'm not that good…"

"Finn," Rachel interrupted him. "Just play please. I'm sure you'll sound great."

Finn sent her his dimpled smile from across the room and then started to play. When he finished, he looked up and grinned. "That was fun," he said. "Did you like it?"

Rachel got up and walked over to where he sat. "Did I like it?" she repeated. "Hell yes I did! That was breathtaking. You're really good, Finn. You know, you could probably make a career out of it. You haven't had any professional training or anything, right?"

Finn shook his head.

"Wow. If you went to the right school, and had the right teachers… you could be the next big name in the drumming world."

"You think?" Finn asked doubtfully.

Rachel nodded. "I know."

"I don't know, Rachel. I never really thought of myself as going into the music business or anything. Like I said before, I just planned on getting that football scholarship and then getting the hell out of Lima. And then I'd… I don't know, Rachel, but I definitely didn't plan on making a career out of drumming. It's kinda just something I do for fun. As a release, you know?"

"Well, its something to think about at least."

Finn nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah," he agreed.

"That was very sexy, by the way," Rachel told him, biting her lip. And she was telling the truth. Watching him bang away on those drums, seeing how passionately he played them, how happy he was as he got lost in the music… it was kind of a turn on.

Finn looked up at her. "Yeah?"

"Definitely," Rachel said. She walked over to his dresser and pulled out a t-shirt. She threw it at him. "You might want to put that on though if you don't want me jumping you."

Finn grinned cheekily as he pulled the shirt on over his head. "Who said I don't want you to?"

Rachel giggled. "Well that's a very tempting offer, but I should probably head home. It's late and I kinda snuck out without telling my fathers where I was going. They're probably worried."

Finn pouted. "Aw," he said and then walked over to where Rachel stood by his door. "When can I see you again? Or are we still doing that whole ignoring each other thing?"

"I'm coming over tomorrow night for a sleepover with Kurt and his friends… maybe I can sneak away for a little while."

"Well you know where to find me."

Rachel beamed. Being with Finn was so easy. She felt so happy and light and carefree when she was with him. Why did Quinn have to ruin every good thing that came into her life?

* * *

**:)**


	17. Chapter 17

**I just want to say that even though I made Quinn and Jesse "bad" people in this story, that does not mean that I don't like them in the real show, lol. Jesse is hilarious and I loveeee JGroff and although I used to not like Quinn for how badly she treated Finn in season 1, she has grown on me (I wouldn't ship her with my bb Puck if I hated her lol). So yeah.  
**

**DISCLAIMER - I no own Glee or its characters.**

* * *

**uncovered**

_Friday, August 10, 2012_

"Rachel!" Kurt exclaimed as he let Rachel into the Hudson-Hummel household. "I'm so happy that you made it!"

Rachel smiled brightly as she hugged her friend. "Me too. Where are Mercedes and Tina?" she asked.

"In my room. Let's go," Kurt said. He grabbed one of her three bags and led her up the stairs to his room. "Is there a reason why you have three bags for a one night stay?"

Rachel blushed. "You can never be over prepared, Kurt."

Kurt glanced down at the large suitcase that he was holding. "That's debatable." They stopped in front of his bedroom door. "Okay, so 'Cedes and Tina have been dying to formally meet you. I mean, they know who you are, everyone at McKinley knows who you are since you're Quinn Fabray's best friend, and they kinda think I'm lying when I say that we've become really close over the summer. They think that its too good to be true."

"Well, let's go," Rachel said and walked into Kurt's room where she saw Mercedes Jones and Tina Cohen-Chang lying in the middle of three blankets that were spread across the floor. In a corner of the room was a pile that consisted of all the snacks that she could ever dream of and next to it was a huge stack of movies. Chick flicks, musicals, horror movies, action flicks… you name it. And next to that was a huge stack of magazines, one of which Mercedes and Tina were already flipping through. It kind of reminded Rachel of the sleepovers that she and Quinn used to have. Before their friendship took a turn for the worse. Rachel pushed that thought down and plastered a bright smile on her face, "Hi girls!" She waved cheerily at them.

Their jaws dropped open. "Rachel Berry?" Mercedes asked in disbelief.

"I can't believe it," Tina added.

"In the flesh," Rachel replied, but she was kind of getting weirded out by the way that they were staring at her.

"Tina, 'Cedes, remember Rachel is one of us now. Stop staring at her like she is some zoo exhibit. You're making her uncomfortable," Kurt said. "Rachel, would you like a soda?"

"I don't really drink soda…" Rachel told him. "Quinn says its bad for your complexion."

Mercedes and Tina rolled their eyes.

"But…" Rachel said quickly. "This is a sleepover, after all. One soda won't hurt."

Mercedes and Tina smiled.

Rachel smiled back. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

* * *

"Shut up!" Mercedes exclaimed a couple hours later.

They had just finished their third movie and were taking a break, flipping through the magazines and sharing gossip.

"I know… Mike is totally sweet and down to earth. Killer abs too. I can't believe he's all mine," Tina said dreamily.

"Super jealous right now," Kurt told her.

Rachel frowned. "Mike Chang asked you to be his girlfriend? Like, the Mike Chang who is on the varsity football team?"

Tina narrowed her eyes. "Yes… Do you have a problem with that?"

"No," Rachel said quickly. "No, of course not. I just… didn't know that Mike was into you, that's all. He's a close friend of mine." _Quinn is going to be pissed when she gets back and finds out that Mike is dating a loser like Tina. Only she's not a loser. She's actually kind of awesome. Mercedes too. Much more fun to hang out with than Santana and Marie._

"Yeah, well, we're dating now."

"Of course."

Kurt clapped his hands. "Okay," he said, trying to break the tension. "Let's talk about something else, hmmm?"

"That'd probably be a good idea," Tina agreed.

"Rachel, do you have a boyfriend?" Mercedes asked. "I never see you with one. Quinn is always hanging all over Finn, I do not know how that boy stands being with her, but you're always single. Well you have been since Jesse. Whatever happened to him?"

"Jesse was an ass," Rachel told her. "And I guess I am just waiting for the right person." She couldn't help but think of Finn when she said that. And wasn't she supposed to go spend some time with him while she's here? With the way Tina was glaring at her, she figured that this would be a good time to make her getaway. "Hey Kurt?"

"Yeah?"

"Is your brother home?"

Kurt frowned. "Um, yes. Why?"

"Quinn wanted me to talk to him about something…" Rachel answered, silently pleading that he would stop with the questions and just let her go before Mercedes and Tina started to suspect something.

"Quinn has a phone. And Skype," Kurt said. "Why can't she talk to him herself?"

"Her grandmother took her technology away for the week. Says she spends too much time on it and needs to spend time with family," Rachel lied. She shrugged. "Sorry."

Kurt sighed. "Okay, fine, go. Make sure you come back though."

Rachel stared at him. "Why wouldn't I come back?" she asked sweetly.

Kurt just stared back at her in response.

"It'll probably take about a half hour. This thing, that Quinn wants me to tell him, its really important. He's sure to have lots of questions," Rachel told him. She turned and sent the other girls a smile. "See you guys in a few! Try not to have too much fun without me!" She blew a kiss and then got out of the room as fast as she could. She was about to head downstairs to Finn's room when she heard Tina's voice coming through the closed door.

"Ugh, Kurt, how can you stand being friends with such a stuck up bitch?" Tina asked.

Rachel frowned. She was _not _a stuck up bitch.

"Rachel isn't a stuck up bitch, Tina. Don't call her that."

"Did you see how she acted when I said that I was dating Mike? Like I'm not worthy or something just because I'm not a Cheerio. She's just like Quinn."

Rachel couldn't bear to hear more. She headed downstairs, fighting back tears.

* * *

Finn had been sitting in front of the tiny television in his room, playing a video game, when he heard Kurt letting Rachel inside the house. He sighed. Rachel was so close, but he couldn't do anything about it. At least if it were just Kurt, he could go up there and say hi. But Mercedes and Tina were over and he wasn't going to risk them suspecting something going on between him and Rachel. Speaking of which, he had no idea how Rachel was going to get away without making them suspicious. He had accepted the fact that he would just have to wait a little while longer to spend some time with Rachel again. So when he heard the tiny knock on his bedroom door hours later, he was pleasantly surprised. Of course it could be Kurt or one of the other girls, but somehow he just knew that it was Rachel. His little star. He laughed at himself. _When did I get so mushy? _He walked over to the door and opened it, a smile on his face, but that smile instantly vanished when he saw the tears pooling in Rachel's eyes. He grabbed a hold of her hand and pulled her into his room, shutting and locking the door behind him.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked her as they sat down on his bed, leaning against the headboard.

Rachel shook her head and wiped away some of the tears that had escaped. "Nothing. It's stupid."

"Rach, I'm sure it's not stupid. Tell me what's bothering you. You sounded like you guys were having fun up there. Why are you crying?"

"I just… I didn't even realize how much people like Tina and Mercedes and… probably even Kurt a little bit resent me," Rachel told him.

Finn was confused. "What?"

"I'm best friends with Quinn, the girl who makes all their lives hell. What does that say about me? Yeah, I don't really partake in the bullying and stuff, but I sure as hell don't do anything to stop it. I am such a bad person."

"You're not a bad person, Rachel," Finn said, wiping away her tears with the pads of his thumb. "What brought this along?"

"I just… did you know that Tina is dating Mike?"

Finn frowned. "Mike Chang?"

Rachel nodded. "Yeah. I was surprised too. And I think I might have said something that hurt Tina's feelings, not on purpose though. When I was leaving the room to come down here, I overheard her saying that I am a stuck up bitch who doesn't think that Mike deserves her and I'm just like Quinn."

"Well that's not fair. She doesn't even know you, Rachel. Anyone who does would know that's not true."

"Maybe it is."

Finn took her hands in his. "Rachel. You're an awesome person, okay? I wouldn't like you so much if you weren't."

Rachel smiled. "Okay."

"Okay?"

She nodded. "Okay."

"Good. Now, what do you want to do?"

"Well, I definitely don't want to go back up there. I'm too embarrassed to ever show my face around either one of them again."

"I'll go grab your stuff and you can hide out in here for the night," Finn suggested. "I'll just tell them that you got sick or something and have to leave."

"Thank you, Finn," Rachel told him as she leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "You're the best."

Finn grinned in response, showing off the dimples that she loved. "I'll be back in a sec."

* * *

"Dude," Finn said, knocking on Kurt's door.

It opened and Kurt was standing there, looking annoyed. "Where's Rachel?"

"She's not feeling too well and said she wanted to go home. I'm here to get her stuff," Finn told him.

Kurt narrowed his eyes. "And she couldn't come and get it herself?"

"No, she didn't really feel like dealing with the people who are talking shit about her behind her back," Finn said, glaring over Kurt's shoulder at Tina.

Tina blushed a deep shade of red. "I can't believe she went and whined about that to you, Finn."

"And I can't believe that you're the type of person to judge someone without getting to know them first, Tina," Finn said. "You don't know Rachel and you don't have the right to say that stuff about her. Now if you'll excuse me." He walked into the room, grabbed all of Rachel's stuff and headed back out of the room.

"Finn?" Kurt asked. "Tell Rachel that I I'm sorry and I'll call her tomorrow, okay? And that I hope she's feeling better."

Finn nodded and then headed back downstairs to his room.

* * *

"Damn, Rachel, did you really need all this stuff?" Finn asked as he plopped all of Rachel's belongings on the floor in front of his bed.

Rachel giggled. "Like I told Kurt, a girl can never be too over prepared."

"I'm not so sure about that," Finn replied with a laugh.

"I'm gonna change into my pajamas, okay?" Rachel informed him as she pulled a pair of shorts and a tank top out of her suitcase and grabbed her bag of toiletries and walked over to the bathroom.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, she walked out of the bathroom, where she saw Finn stretched out across his bed, flipping through the TV channels. He had changed into a pair of blue and black plaid pajama pants and a grey t-shirt.

"Hi," she greeted him, suddenly shy.

Finn grinned as he looked at her. "You look adorable."

Rachel blushed. She was wearing pink pajama shorts with little gold stars all over them and a pink cami. She had pulled her hair into two low pigtails. "Thanks. Do you have a blanket so I can spread out on the floor?"

"I'm not gonna make you sleep on the floor, Rach."

"Where am I supposed to sleep then? I'm not gonna make _you _sleep on the floor while I sleep in your bed."

"We can share," Finn suggested.

"Finn…" Rachel started.

"Come on, Rach. It's not like we're gonna do anything naughty. It's just sleeping."

Rachel sighed. "Okay." She put her stuff back in her bag and then climbed onto the bed next to Finn. "No funny business," she warned him.

Finn saluted her. "Yes ma'am."

Rachel laughed. "You are so weird, Finn."

"Yeah, but you love it," Finn told her. "You wanna watch a movie?"

Rachel eyed him warily. "It's not scary, is it?"

Finn smiled. "Maybe…"

"Finn!"

Finn laughed. "No, it isn't scary, Rach."

Rachel sighed. "Good. Yes, then. We can watch a movie."

"Awesome."

* * *

An hour later, the lights were off and Finn and Rachel were snuggled up together under the covers as they watched the movie. Neither of them were paying that much attention though. Not as much attention as they were paying to each other.

Rachel sighed contently. It had been so long since she had lied with Finn like this. She honestly thought that she could stay there, pressed up against him, her head on his chest, forever. "What is this movie about again?" she asked.

"No idea," Finn answered. He was the one that suggested that they watch it, but he hadn't been paying one lick of attention. He was more concerned with the girl that was currently in his arms. She was so beautiful. "You are so beautiful."

Rachel's head hurt. What were they doing? She sat up.

"Rach?" Finn asked, confused, as he sat up too. "Is everything alright?"

"I… Finn, you're cheating on Quinn," Rachel told him. Like he hadn't been cheating on her all summer and this was the first time.

"Technically, this isn't cheating. We're not doing anything," Finn replied. He pressed a light kiss to the back of her neck. "Now, this? This is cheating." He pressed another kiss on her neck again, this time on the side, right beneath her ear. Rachel suppressed a moan. He continued to press a series on the length of her neck and jaw, making his way to her mouth. Right before their lips touched, Rachel gently pushed him way.

"Finn, we can't," she told him. "I can't betray my best friend like this." Even though she said that, she didn't really care about betraying Quinn at that moment, not when Quinn was being such a bitch about Kurt and the musical, she just didn't like sharing. "And besides, even without all the inappropriate touching, you would still be cheating. Emotionally cheating."

"I can't help the way I feel, Rachel."

"Neither can I, Finn, but we have to stop this."

"We tried that before, didn't we? And I never saw you again. For two weeks. Rachel, I can't stand not seeing you," Finn said.

"I'll try not to disappear on you like that this time. Besides, we have school in a couple weeks. It'll be impossible for us to avoid each other."

"Rachel…"

"Please, Finn. I just… I can't do this anymore," Rachel asked him. "Friends?"

Finn nodded. "Friends." It was better than nothing.

Rachel smiled and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "I promise I'll be the best friend you ever asked for."

Finn grinned. "Okay."

* * *

**lol**

**I'm sorryyyy **

**:)**


	18. Chapter 18

**uncovered**

_Wednesday, August 15, 2012_

After they had agreed to be friends five days earlier, Rachel had snuck out of the house and headed back to her own. She wasn't sure that she trusted herself to sleep in the same bed as him.

Since then, they had hung out every day and Rachel had kept her promise. She was an awesome friend. She made him banana bread and helped him look for colleges with music programs that he could really thrive in. They watched movies together and he even helped her perfect her lines for the musical. It was great.

Except for the fact that every time Finn looked at her, he wanted to kiss her. And every time she looked at him, Rachel wanted to kiss him. It was tortuous.

* * *

Puck was holding a bonfire and Finn had invited Rachel to come along with him. As friends, of course.

"Hudson! Glad you could make it," Puck greeted him and then turned to Rachel. "Wow, never thought I'd see the day when my hot little Jewish American princess showed up at one of these."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Hello, Noah."

Puck grinned and he let his eyes roam over her body. "'Sup."

Finn had to keep himself from punching his best friend in the jaw. "I'm gonna go grab a beer. Let's go, Rach."

"Actually, Rachel, how about you go grab the beers while I talk to my buddy, Finn, here for a little bit," Puck suggested.

"Fine. Anything to get away from you," Rachel said as she walked over to where the cooler was. "Sam! Mike! Hi!"

"Dude, what's up?" Finn asked Puck, once Rachel was out of earshot.

"What's going on between you and Rachel?" Puck asked. "Everyone else might believe that you guys have just suddenly become good friends over the summer, but I know you. I know that look in your eyes. It's the same look you used to give to Quinn."

Finn laughed nervously. "Rachel and I are just friends, dude."

"So you haven't fucked her?" Puck asked.

Finn's eyes bugged out. "What? No! Of course not!" he exclaimed. He cleared his throat nervously. "I have a girlfriend."

"Never stopped me before," Puck pointed out.

"Yeah, well I'm not you," Finn replied, but felt sick as he said it. Maybe he and Puck were more similar than he thought. He didn't have time to dwell on that thought though because Rachel returned with their beers.

"Here you go, Finn," she said with a smile as she handed him the cool drink. She handed one to Puck as well. "I was nice enough to grab you one as well, Noah. You're welcome."

"I knew you had a thing for me," Puck said as he took the beer from her.

"In your dreams," Rachel told him.

"Yes you are," Puck replied. He sent her a wink and then walked away to go talk to some other people.

Finn didn't really feel like being there anymore. If Puck noticed that something was up between him and Rachel, how many other people did? "Hey, you wanna get out of here?"

Rachel frowned. "We just got here."

"I know. I just…" Finn didn't know what to say.

Rachel smiled at him. "It's okay, Finn. We can leave. Any place you want to go in particular?"

"Yeah, there is."

* * *

After they left the bonfire, Finn drove to the lake that he loved so much. He parked the truck there and laid a blanket out in the bed of it so that he and Rachel could stretch out and look at the stars.

"Wow. It's beautiful," Rachel said, her voice echoing through the darkness.

"I know," Finn agreed. "It's times like these when I'm not sure that I'm so eager to leave Lima, you know? But then I get back to the real world and I'm like, yeah I can't wait to get out of here. I think I might want to go to New York, with you and Kurt. I was thinking about heading to California, with Puck, but he'll probably get us both killed." He laughed. "I guess it all depends on what school I get into though. If I even get into a school."

"You'll get into one, Finn. A good one," Rachel told him. "And you're going to go on to do amazing things. I know it."

Finn smiled in the darkness. "You're the one who's gonna go on to be a star. And you are gonna shine so brightly, Rach. Like that one." He lifted his hand and pointed to a star that was directly above, twinkling brightly in the night sky.

Rachel turned on her side so that she could look at Finn. He was so gorgeous. And so, so sweet and caring. "Figures," she said.

"What?"

"There all these guys that I could have, thanks to Quinn, but I fall for the one guy that I can't."

Finn sighed. "Rachel…"

"No, you don't have to say anything. I know you can't break up with Quinn."

Finn sat up. "I wish that she would just break up with me already, but if she was going to, she would have done it by now. I mean, I've been a crappy enough boyfriend this summer. You'd think she'd have had enough by now," Finn told her, feeling a little guilty. Not enough to want to stop wanting to be with Rachel, though. "I don't even think she really loves me. I mean, sometimes I believe her when she says it. Sometimes she has me fooled. But then she goes and pulls shit like threatening to jeopardize my chances of getting a scholarship, which is my only ticket out of here and I realize that she doesn't give one fuck about me. I'm pretty sure the only reason why she is with me is because I am the quarterback, we look good together, and I am stupid enough to believe half the shit she tells me."

Rachel frowned and sat up as well. "You're not stupid, Finn."

Finn laughed harshly. "Yeah, well."

Rachel didn't like seeing him like this. But it seemed like whenever he talked about Quinn, he got angry. It wasn't fair. That he had to torture himself by being with her. She scooted closer to him so that she could rest her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Finn."

Finn sighed. "I want to be with you, Rachel. I want to be with you so much. For real. Without all the lying and the sneaking around and stuff. I just… I don't want to risk pissing off Quinn enough that she'd take away my only chance of getting out of here. And I don't want her to target you because she thinks that you ruined our relationship when really she did that all by herself."

Rachel's heart pounded in her chest. He finally said the words that she had wanted him to say for so long. He wanted to be with her. "Finn…" she said, lifting her head to look at him.

Finn caressed her cheek. "You are so beautiful, Rachel. I don't know why you feel like you have to act like Quinn to be noticed."

"I do though, Finn. I was nobody before Quinn took me under her wing."

"Took you under her wing? More like put you in a choke hold," Finn said. "I'm serious though, Rachel. You're amazing. And no matter what happens when Quinn gets back, just remember that. You're amazing. On your own. Without Quinn's 'help'."

Rachel gave him a watery smile and then pressed her lips to his. Just friends be damned. She was gonna kiss this boy while she could. She gave him a kiss, a kiss as tender and light as the summer breeze that blew around them.

Finn grinned as they pulled apart. "What was that for?"

"For being you."

"Well can I have another one? We're out here… all alone… where no one can see us…" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Rachel giggled. "You are so weird," she told him, but leaned over and kissed him anyway.

As soon as her lips touched his, he flipped them over so that her back was against the bed of the truck and he was hovering over her. "I meant what I said, Rachel."

She nodded. "I know."

They stayed there for another hour, just sharing kisses and whispering sweet nothings in each other's ears and sharing more kisses. It might have been the happiest Rachel had felt all summer long.

* * *

**Lol so much for being friends :p**


	19. Chapter 19

**Heyyy! The reason that this chapter took a couple of days to be posted is because I only had up to the last chapter and half of this one written already. So from now, it might take a while for new chapters to be posted because I actually have to write them now, lol.  
**

**Also... I'm sorry in advance :)  
**

**DISCLAIMER - I don't own Glee or its characters.**

* * *

**uncovered**

_Friday, August 17, 2012_

Rachel was practically vibrating with excitement as she stood backstage at the performing arts center. She couldn't believe it. In two hours, she was going to go on stage and blow everyone away with her talent for the first time in what felt like forever. She could not wait.

She took out her script and started reviewing the lines again, even though she knew them backwards and forward by now and could recite them in her sleep. She had just gotten to the third act when her phone buzzed on the table next to her. It was Quinn. She hadn't really talked to Quinn since their argument a week earlier and she didn't really feel like talking to her at that moment. Not when she had to mentally prepare herself for going on stage.

She had just returned her phone back to its previous spot, when it beeped with a text message.

_Rachie, I know that you're pissed at me but can you pleaseeee answer your phone? I really need to talk to you. _

Rachel sighed. "This better be good," she muttered under her breath as she dialed Quinn's number.

"Rachie!" Quinn exclaimed when she answered the phone.

"Hi Quinn," Rachel replied, her tone frosty. "Can this hurry up? The musical starts in a little over an hour and my make up isn't even finished yet."

"I just wanted to wish you good luck before you went on. I know that we're kind of in a fight right now, but you're my best friend and that is what best friends do," Quinn told her.

"The more appropriate phrase is 'break a leg', which you should know by now, but I appreciate the sentiment," Rachel replied.

Quinn sighed. "Rachie, please don't be mad at me. I am sorry for how I acted the other day. It was totally uncalled for. I just… I can feel you slipping away from me and that's exactly what I was afraid of when I left in the beginning of the summer. That you would find new friends and that our friendship would start to dissolve and by the time I got back, it would be too late. So, of course, when Marie told me about Kurt, I freaked out and I got defensive and I said some things that I really should not have said. And you're right, I am jealous that you get to play Maria in the musical. But you're probably right when you say that you are more suited for the role than I am. A classic blonde beauty like me wouldn't really look right."

Rachel was surprised. Quinn was actually apologizing? And she sounded _sincere_? Weird. "I…uh… thank you for the apology, Quinn."

"Can we be best friends again? I really don't want to come back home and not have a best friend anymore."

Rachel smiled a little. "Of course, Quinn."

"Fantastic. Well, break a leg, Rachie. I am sure that you are going to kick some ass in that musical," Quinn said and then ended the call.

Rachel stared at the phone in her hand. _Oh great. Here comes the guilt. _She didn't have much time to let herself feel bad though, because then Finn and Kurt walked backstage.

"Ahhhh you are going to kill it as Maria, Rachel," Kurt said with a huge smile on his face as he wrapped Rachel in a hug. He frowned. "Why aren't you in costume yet? This is not okay. We go on in an hour."

"I know, I know," Rachel said. "I was going over my lines and then Quinn called and…"

Finn frowned. "Quinn called you?"

Rachel nodded. "Yeah. It's okay though. She actually acted like she had some sanity this time."

"Who the hell cares about Quinn?" Kurt shrieked. "You need to get ready!"

"Can I talk to Rachel alone for a second?" Finn asked.

Kurt shook his head fervently. "Finn, we do not have time for that!"

"Dude. Get out."

Kurt glared at him. "Fine. You have five minutes," he threatened and then left the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Is everything okay?" Rachel asked as she looked up at Finn.

"Yeah. I just… wanted to wish you good luck."

Rachel blushed. "The correct terminology is break a leg, but thank you. That means a lot."

"Well, break a leg," he corrected himself with a smile.

As Rachel looked up at him, she felt overwhelmed with love for the boy in front of her and that scared her immensely because what would happen when Quinn got back? She and Finn couldn't be together. She had made a lot of progress over the summer, but she didn't know if she was strong enough to go to school and face people without Quinn as her best friend. Yes, she loved Finn, but she wasn't sure if she was really willing to give up everything that Quinn being her best friend came with. And she knew that Finn couldn't break up with Quinn. Well, he could, but Quinn would ruin his life. And she loved him too much to let that happen. She frowned and quickly looked away. "Well thank you for your support, but I really need to prepare myself so…"

Finn was confused by Rachel's sudden change in demeanor. Did he say something wrong? "Oh. Right. Of course. Um, yeah. I'll see you later, then?"

Rachel nodded, not making eye contact. "Okay."

Finn turned to walk out of the room, hesitated, and then looked back at Rachel. "You're gonna do awesome, don't worry." _She's nervous. Of course that's why she's acting a little weird right now._

Rachel had to resist the urge to laugh. He thought that she was worried about the musical? She knew that she had this in the bag; that she was going to do phenomenal. Her performance was not the cause of all that anxiety. But she wasn't going to tell him that. Instead, she just gave him a small smile. "Thank you, Finn."

Finn sent her one last smile and then left the room, Kurt bustling in behind him.

"I _cannot _believe that you wasted precious time that could have been spent getting you ready talking to Finn, when you are going to see him later at the after party…"

* * *

Three hours later, Rachel was standing on-stage after the curtain call and beaming brightly, soaking in all of the applause. She felt _amazing. _This was what she loved to do. She couldn't believe that she had ever agreed to not do it just because she wanted to fit in. What had she been thinking?

She looked out into the audience and saw her dads, Kurt, and Finn in the front row, standing on their feet, cheering loudly, and her smile widened.

And as she made eye contact with Finn, who wore her favorite smile and sent her two thumbs up, she corrected a statement that she had made to herself two days earlier. No, _this _was the happiest that she had felt all summer. The happiest that she had felt in years. Yes, her dads would probably question her later about why exactly Finn had come to support her, but she would worry about that at a later time. All that mattered was that she was doing the thing that she lived for and the people that she cared about were supporting her, every step of the way.

* * *

Kurt was holding an West Side Story after-party at his house after the musical, and it was crazy. They had a pretty large cast and they were all squished together in the Hudmel's living room.

Rachel was sitting on the couch, between Kurt and three more of her fellow cast mates, laughing at one of her other cast mate's drunken escapades.

"We've only been here for an half hour," she yelled into Kurt's ear over the music. "How is he already wasted?"

Kurt began to respond, but was interrupted by the door bell ringing. He smiled excitedly. "That must be Blaine!"

"You invited Blaine? Coffee shop Blaine?"

Kurt nodded. "Yep," he said and then got up to go answer the door.

Finn took that moment to slip into Kurt's empty seat next to Rachel. "Hey," he said with a smile.

"Hi Finn."

"Can we go somewhere and talk? Privately?"

"But I don't wanna miss the party…"

Finn stood up and held out a hand. "Come on, it won't take long."

Rachel sighed. "Alright," she said and allowed Finn to lead her downstairs to his bedroom, away from all of the chaos.

"Are you okay?" Finn asked her. "You've been acting kind of weird around me. I mean, at first I thought it was just nerves but the musical's over and you did awesome and I… did I do something wrong?"

Rachel shook her head. "No, Finn. Of course not."

"Then what's bothering you?"

"I just… Quinn is coming back in two days and I am freaking out. What if she finds out about us?" That wasn't the whole truth. Quinn's phone call before the show, reminded Rachel that even though she loved Finn, and she loved being with him, it was still wrong. He had a girlfriend, her best friend, and they shouldn't have been going behind her back. She felt really guilty.

"She's not going to, Rachel. Don't worry."

"Quinn finds out about everything, Finn. She found out about Kurt and the musical. What makes you think that our… _thing_ is are any different?"

Finn frowned. She was starting to freak him out now. No, if Quinn had found out, they would know by now. Quinn's not _that _good of an actress. "It just is."

"Finn…"

"Listen, like you said, Quinn comes back in two days. Can we just… not talk about her until then? I just want to spend the rest of this time with you."

Rachel opened her mouth to protest, but then one look into his eyes, and she was gone. "You're right."

"Can I kiss you now?"

Rachel giggled. "Of course."

"Awesome," Finn said and then leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. He was surprised when Rachel deepened the kiss almost instantly and leaned into him so much that he found himself backed up against his bedroom door. He lifted her up off the ground a little so that there wouldn't be so much strain on their necks and Rachel immediately wrapped her legs around his waist. She moved her attention away from his lips to his neck and kissed the pattern of moles that were there.

Finn moaned as she nibbled on his earlobe. "Mmm, Rachel, not that this isn't hot, but the… uh…the doorknob is kind of digging into my back so can we uh… move to the…mmmm… wow… move to the bed please?"

Rachel nodded and reattached their lips so Finn walked them over to his bed, all while still kissing her, and sat her down gently, backing her up towards his pillow, where she laid down and he settled over her, his knee in between hers.

As they continued to explore each others mouths, the kiss got even more heated, and Rachel ran her hands up the back of Finn's shirt and then tugged on it, signaling for him to take it off. He did and briefly, Rachel remembered her phone call with Quinn earlier and thought that maybe they should stop, but then Finn's lips started nibbling on the sensitive spot on her collarbone and she moaned and arched her body up into his and the only thing she was thinking about was how good Finn made her feel.

* * *

Afterwards, they lay under his sheets, their legs tangled together. She had her head on his chest and his arm was wrapped around her, holding her to him. She felt like she was floating on a blanket of clouds.

Finn ran a hand down her back and pressed a light kiss to her forehead. "How do you feel?"

"I'm a little sore, which is to be expected, but other than that? I'm perfect. _That _was perfect." She smiled and pressed a kiss to his exposed chest.

"Good," Finn replied. "I'm glad. Not that you're hurting, I wish you didn't have to deal with that, but that you enjoyed it. I enjoyed it too."

Rachel giggled. "I bet you did." And as she looked up at him, and saw the way that he was looking back at her, she was overwhelmed with love and appreciation for him and she knew that he felt the same way. He didn't have to tell her, she just knew it. He loved her. He fell in love with her, just like she did with him.

And as she marveled over her new found discovery, she suddenly got cold. She was in love with her best friend's boyfriend, and he loved her back. _Oh my g-d. What the hell was I thinking? _She hurriedly sat up, gathering the sheets around her body.

Finn looked at her questioningly. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Finn, you do realize how wrong this is, right?" she asked him. "You're betraying Quinn! And I am too. We need to stop this."

"I can't, Rachel," he replied. "We tried before, remember, and I just… I can't stay away from you."

Rachel was distraught. She felt the same way, but it was time for them to face reality. Quinn was returning to Lima in two days and here she was, in bed with her boyfriend. It wasn't right. "Why not?"

Finn sat up as well and took her hands in his. He took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he was about to say and looked deep into her eyes, "Because I l—"

Tears started to form in Rachel's eyes, and she shook her head. "No! Don't say it!"

"Don't say what?"

"Don't tell me that you love me. You can't love me. I told you; we cannot be together. This whole thing was a mistake."

Finn was bewildered. Why was she acting this way? They literally just slept together and now she was telling him that this was a mistake? "I… are you kidding me right now?"

Rachel took in a deep breath, trying to compose herself. She looked up at him. "No, Finn. Unfortunately, I am not."

Finn couldn't take this. No way was he giving up Rachel. Even if it meant that his psycho girlfriend would ruin his life. Rachel was worth it. "I'll break up with Quinn. As soon as she gets back, I'll go over to her house and end things," he pleaded.

"No! You will do no such thing!"

"What? Rachel, I thought that's what you wanted. It's what I want."

Rachel was getting frustrated. Why didn't he understand? _Well then, I guess I'll have to make him understand. _"Finn, if you break up with Quinn, you're putting both of us at risk. I don't care what you say or don't say, she is going to get suspicious and she is going to find out about us. I will not risk my friendship with her for some summer fling. Just like you don't want to risk your scholarship. It's better if you just stay with her. At least until we graduate, or if she breaks things off first." She almost burst into tears when she saw the look of hurt that came across Finn's face when she told him that this was just a summer fling. Even though it was the furthest from the truth.

Finn laughed harshly. He falls in love with her, and she reduces their relationship to a summer fling? "Some summer fling? Is that really all this was to you?"

"Yes."

Okay, _now _he was getting pissed. He shook his head in disbelief. "Wow. _Wow. _You know what? Maybe Tina was right."

"Excuse me?"

"Tina said that you're a stuck up bitch and just like Quinn, right? I'm starting to think that she was right. I can't believe I thought you were different."

Rachel was astonished. Was he really saying these things to her right now? He knew how much what Tina had said hurt her and now he was throwing that back into her face? "Well, you know what, _Finn_? You're not such a saint yourself. I mean, really? Quinn is your girlfriend. Your girlfriend of _two years_. The girl that you claim that you love. And you've spent this whole summer fooling around with her best friend. That's not a very nice thing to do. In fact, it is quite deplorable."

"Yeah, well you're fooling around with your best friend's boyfriend. That's not much better. In fact, it's worse. Chicks before dicks, isn't that what you girls say?"

Rachel got up off of the bed and started putting her clothes back on. "Goodbye, Finn."

Finn wasn't finished yet though. He almost told Rachel that he loved her and this is how she acts? Both his heat and his pride were wounded. And that made him angry. So angry that he couldn't stop the hurtful words that came out of his mouth next. "But you don't really care about Quinn, do you? Just like you say I _claim_ to love Quinn, you _claim _to be her best friend. The difference is though, that I do love Quinn. But you… you've been using her from the start. Using her so that you wouldn't be such a loser. And you, you know that you love me, Rachel. I know that you fell in love with me this summer, but you're a coward. Scared that Quinn will stop being there for you to use to be popular. So you're willing to deny what we have just to save your not-so friendship."

Rachel laughed to hide her pain. She couldn't believe this was happening. "_I'm_ a coward? _You_, Finn Hudson, are calling _me _a coward?"

"Yeah, I am," Finn told her. "And you know what? All this time, you've had me fooled into thinking that Quinn is this evil monster that treats you horribly when the truth is that you do the same thing. I can't believe that I've let my relationship with her get so fucked-up. I love her. So, you're right. We should just end this right now. I'm going to try and salvage what's left of my relationship with Quinn, the girl I _love_, and we can just pretend like this never happened."

Rachel felt like he just kicked her in the stomach. "Fine." She was about to stomp out of the room, in dramatic Rachel Berry fashion, but turned back towards Finn, who was still lying naked in his bed. "You say that I fell in love with you? Well, you're wrong. Don't forget, Finn. I plan to be on Broadway one day. I'm a _really _good actress." And then she stormed out of his room, slamming the door behind her.

Finn sat in his bed, staring at the spot that Rachel had just vacated. "Fuck," he cursed as his eyes started tearing up.

* * *

Rachel walked back upstairs, hurriedly wiping the tears away, hoping that no one would notice her. She had just reached the front door and was about to walk out of the house, when Kurt ran up to her.

"Rachel! Why are you leaving? Are you crying? Oh my gosh, you're crying. Is everything okay? Where's Finn?"

Rachel turned around to look at Kurt, trying her hardest not to burst into tears again, and took a deep breath as she prepared herself for what she was about to do. "Kurt, I don't think we can be friends any longer." Quinn was already pissed that she had been spending time with Kurt all summer, and if she continued their friendship when Quinn came back, she was going to make his life a living hell and she didn't want to put him through that.

Kurt was shocked. "What?" he asked. "Rachel, what happened down there?"

"Nothing, Kurt. Just— I have to go. It was nice getting to know you," Rachel told him and then quickly left the house.

About an hour later, Rachel was lying in her bed, trying to fall asleep, but failing miserably. She was just so upset over what happened between her and Finn. They had both said some really nasty things to each other. She knew that she didn't mean the stuff that she said to him, and she hoped desperately that Finn didn't really mean the things that he said to her. Even though maybe it would be best if he hated her. It would make the transition to Quinn being back in their lives a lot easier. She had just shifted positions when her phone started ringing. _Kurt. _She sighed and answered the phone. "Kurt, I told you-"

"What the hell did you do to my brother?" Kurt demanded, cutting her off.

"Excuse me?"

"I went down to Finn's room after you made your dramatic exit from the party to go see what was up and although his door was locked, I am pretty sure that I heard him _crying_ in there. Finn doesn't cry. Unless it's something really bad. What did you do?"

"Why do you assume that it was me that did something?"

"Because you also had the nerve to try and end our friendship which, by the way, is not happening."

"Yes, it is, Kurt. I can't be friends with you and expect to keep my friendship with Quinn."

"So? Quinn's a bitch. You'd be lucky to finally lose her."

Rachel sighed. Why was he making this so hard? She was trying to protect him. "She is not that bad of a person, Kurt. If you knew her like I knew her-"

"I'd be out of there faster that you can say Vogue."

"Quinn is amazing. I am lucky that she cares so much about me," Rachel told him, her voice void of any real emotion. "She's been so great to me these past years. I wouldn't be where I am without her."

"Oh, so you're back to playing the part of the doting best friend?" Kurt asked snarkily. "Funny. It was just last week that you were sitting on my bedroom floor, saying all sorts of terrible things about her. Weird how that changes once she comes back."

Rachel ignored him. "She's been my best friend for as long as I can remember. I'm not just gonna give that up."

"So Quinn's more important to you than our friendship? And Finn?"

Rachel bit her lip to keep from crying again. "I'm sorry, Kurt."

Kurt laughed harshly. "No, you're not."

"What?" Rachel asked in surprise. "Yes, I am. You can't tell me how I am feeling."

"Ohhhh right; I forgot. Only Quinn has the honor of doing that," Kurt said. "It's okay though, Rachel. I don't need your friendship anyway. I'd much rather have the ones that I have now. You know, Mercedes and Tina. Oh and Blaine too. They wouldn't drop me like a hot potato just because they're scared of their so-called best friend."

"You're with Blaine now?"

"Yes."

"I'm so happy for you, Kurt." And she was. She really was.

Kurt scoffed. "Thanks, but no thanks. I don't need your happiness," he told her and then hung up the phone.

Rachel sighed as she felt another round of sobs coming. She couldn't believe that it was just earlier that day that she had, as Finn would say, kicked-ass in the musical. Now, she had lost both Finn and Kurt and was miserable.

_Yay me._

* * *

**:o **

**...I kinda feel like the pacing of this was off, but oh well.**

**btw part 3 is almost finished and then we'll get back to the aftermath of quinn's death and you'll find out who the killer is dun dun dun AND you'll see if finn and rachel live happily ever after :) again, i'm sorry  
**


	20. Chapter 20

**New chapter! Finally! I'm sorry it took so long guys :(  
**

**DISCLAIMER - I don't own Glee or its characters.**

* * *

**uncovered**

_Sunday, August 19, 2012_

_Ding-dong!_

Rachel groaned as the sound of the doorbell reverberated through the Berry household. "What time is it?" she mumbled to herself, her voice groggy with sleep. She lifted her head to look at the alarm clock on her nightstand and her eyes widened when she noticed the time. It was one o' clock in the afternoon! How could she sleep in so late? She _never _slept in that late. Then she remembered the events of the previous night and how it took her hours to finally fall asleep because she was crying so much. _Oh. That's how. _

She had just slipped her sleeping mask (bright pink and covered in tiny gold stars… Hanukkah present from her dads) back over her face and snuggled back under her comforter when the door to her bedroom swung open, hitting the wall with a loud bang.

"Rachie! I'm baaackkk!" Quinn exclaimed in a sing-song voice.

Rachel's eyes popped open under the mask. "No," she whispered in horror.

"What was that?" Quinn asked. "I couldn't hear you." She walked over to the bed and pulled the covers off of Rachel.

Rachel sat up and slipped the mask from off of her face. "Quinn…" she said, trying to sound happy to her see her friend, but failing miserably. "You're back."

Quinn smiled brightly and wrapped her arms around Rachel. "I know! I can't believe it, but I actually really missed little ole Lima."

"And I'm sure Lima missed you too, Quinn," Rachel told her. "Um, can you stay here for a minute and then we can catch up. I have to ask my dads something." She didn't wait for a reply. She got up and practically ran out of the room.

"I cannot believe you!" she whisper-yelled as she walked into the living room, where her two fathers were sitting on the couch, watching the news.

"And I cannot believe you, pumpkin. You're standing right in front of the television!" Hiram said, motioning for his daughter to move.

Rachel stomped her foot in frustration and crossed her arms over her chest. "Why did you let Quinn in? I was trying to sleep and she just barged in without knocking. You couldn't have even warned me that she was back?" she asked, ignoring

"Sweetheart, she is your best friend. We just assumed that you knew that she was coming over already. Besides, her… rude behavior, while frowned upon by us, isn't that unusual. She acts like she lives in this house herself. Why are you surprised?" Leroy answered.

"And why are you still in your pajamas, Rachel? You never sleep in this late. Are you sick?" Hiram asked.

"No, Daddy. I just had a really rough night," Rachel told him.

"Aw, honey, do you want to talk about it?" Hiram replied.

Rachel shook her head. "Maybe another time." She sighed. "I should go. Quinn is waiting." She sent her dads a small smile and then walked back upstairs to her room where Quinn was sitting on her bed, looking at her phone with a flirty smile on her face.

"Who are you texting? Finn?" Rachel asked as she went to her closet and searched for something to wear.

"No," Quinn answered. "Luke."

"Luke?"

"Yes. When I lived in Florida, we were, like, best friends. He was such a scrawny little thing back then though, with braces and these horrible glasses, and he had a lisp and…yeah. We didn't really hang out in public. Bad for my reputation, you know. But, I saw him while on my trip and he got _so_ hot over these last couple of years. Like, center of the sun hot."

"Um… okay," Rachel said. She didn't really know how to respond.

"We reconnected a bit," Quinn continued.

Rachel whirled around. "Reconnected? What does that mean? What about Finn?" she asked. Was this Luke guy the person she overheard Quinn flirting with that day on the phone?

Quinn laughed. "Relax, Rachel. Nothing happened. He knows that I have a boyfriend."

"Oh," Rachel said, returning her attention back to her wardrobe. She couldn't help but be a little disappointed.

"Hey, what happened to all your Cheerios stuff? And what the hell, Rachel? Why is all this Broadway crap back up?" Quinn said, looking around the room and finally noticing the changes that were made while she was gone.

Rachel swallowed nervously. "I just… felt like a change."

"I would yell at you for being _such _a dumb-ass, Rachie, but I won't. Because I've missed you over the summer and I really don't feel like arguing. But listen, now that I am back, things are going to have to go back to the way that they were before you decided to… rebel or whatever you are doing. I mean, really? Becoming friends with Hummel? It's like you are purposely trying to ruin everything that you have worked for."

Rachel was surprised. She did not expect Quinn to be so calm. She decided to change the subject before Quinn had a change of heart and unleashed her wrath. "Have you talked to Finn today?" She expected Quinn to be all happy go luck at the mention of her boyfriend, but instead it was the opposite.

Quinn's features darkened. "No. He was supposed to meet me at the airport but instead he send me a text saying that he couldn't because he got smashed with Puck last night and has a killer hangover. What the hell is his problem?"

Rachel resisted the urge to smile. She knew that Finn was lying. He was with _her _last night. Unless he went and got smashed with Puck after she left, but still.

Then, she felt guilty. Why was she happy about fooling around with her best friend's boyfriend? Maybe Quinn was right. She did get out of hand this summer. But she was going to change that. From now on, she'd be the most amazing best friend that Quinn had ever had.

* * *

"Finn! Open the damn door!"

Finn sighed as he got up from his bed and walked over to his bedroom door. Kurt had been yelling from the other side of the door for almost five minutes straight now. It was pretty much futile to even hope that he would be able to fall back asleep.

He opened the door and Kurt was standing there, with an irritated look on his face that softened as soon as he saw the state that his stepbrother was in. "Oh Finn, you look like hell."

"Thanks," Finn said dryly and then walked back over to his bed.

Kurt walked into the room, closing the door behind him. "Are you okay? I know things with Rachel didn't work out so well. And I heard you crying last night."

Finn cringed. "Yeah. Try not to mention that to anyone, okay?"

"I won't," Kurt promised. "But Finn, what happened?"

"I don't really want to talk about it."

Kurt opened his mouth to protest, but was interrupted by someone banging on Finn's door. "Finn Hudson! Open this door right now!"

Finn groaned and fell back on his bed. "Fuck," he cursed.

"I'm guessing Quinn is back," Kurt said.

Finn nodded. "Yeah, can you let her in for me?" he asked, not moving from his position.

Kurt stood up. "Sure," he answered. He opened the door and greeted Quinn with an overly huge smile. "Quinnnn! Welcome back!"

Quinn scowled at him. "Get out of my way, Hummel," she said and pushed her way into the room.

"Well then," Kurt replied. "I'll just give you two lovebirds some privacy."

Quinn waited until Kurt had walked back upstairs and then whirled on Finn. "What the fuck, Finn? I cannot believe you humiliated me like that!"

"It's nice to see you too, Quinn," Finn remarked sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Sit up and look at me."

Finn let out an annoyed sigh, but complied. "Yes?"

"People were at the airport, waiting to see the reunion of Lima's most revered couple, but no. It never happened because my damn boyfriend apparently is too hungover to pick up his girlfriend! You humiliated me, Finn!"

Finn laughed. "I think the real problem lies with these people who clearly need to find something better to do with their lives."

Quinn slapped him on the arm. "Finn! This is not funny!"

"Quinn, chill," Finn told her. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to pick you up and put on a show for our fans."

"Your sarcasm is not appreciated," Quinn said.

Finn frowned. Quinn kind of sounded like Rachel when she said that, she had the same facial expression and everything, and it made him sad.

"But never mind that," Quinn waved her hand dismissing the subject. "I missed you. And I know that you missed me too. So why are you not kissing me right now?"

Finn gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Can you let me go back to sleep now?"

Quinn was appalled. "It is three in the afternoon, Finn! You should have slept when normal people sleep!"

"I _told_ you," Finn said, getting irritated. "I have a hangover. My head hurts, these lights are too bright, and your shrill voice is not making anything better. In fact, your yelling is making it worse." He really did have a hangover. After he had spent a good two hours crying in his room, he snuck out of the house, and got so drunk with Puck that he doesn't even know how ended up waking up back in his own bed. The alcohol had helped him forget what had happened between him and Rachel last night, but now that he was back in his room, and he was starting to really wake up, he remembered everything. In clear detail. And it hurt like a bitch.

Things were going to go back to how they were before Quinn left. In fact, they already were. Rachel was pretty much a stranger to him (the Rachel that he had gotten to know over the summer never would have said the things that she had said to him last night) and Quinn was back, and yelling at him like usual. School was starting back in a week and he was going to go back to focusing on football so he could get that scholarship and he and Quinn were going to flaunt their relationship for all of McKinley High to see. Still, there was one thing that would be different. Before, he was in love with Quinn. Now, he was in love with Rachel. Quinn's best friend. And there was nothing he could do about it because apparently she didn't feel the same way.

**END OF PART 3**

* * *

**Hope you liked it! :p**


	21. PART 4

**So this is kind of a filler chapter, lol. It's just to show you how Finn and Rachel are coping with Quinn's death and all.  
**

**p.s. the first part of this chapter is from way back in part 2! just to remind you where we left off**

**DISCLAIMER - Me no own Glee.**

* * *

**uncovered**

**PART 4:**

"_Tell me about the nature of your relationship with Rachel Berry."_

"_Rachel?" Finn asked, swallowing a lump that had formed in his throat. "I, uh, we don't really have a relationship. I mean…we're friends, I guess. She's Quinn's best friend so we hang out in groups sometimes."_

"_Really? Nothing more?"_

_Finn shook his head._

"_Finn, you seem like a nice guy. And I don't want you to have anything to do with Miss Fabray's murder. But if you lie to me, then I have no choice than to assume that there is something that you are trying to hide," Detective Minh told him. "Now, let's try this again. Tell me about the nature of your relationship with Rachel Berry."_

"_We got…close over the summer."_

"_How close?"_

_Finn hesitated and then said, "We…we slept together." He watched as she wrote in her notebook. "Wait, what are you writing down?"_

_Detective Minh ignored him. "Were you with Quinn at the time that you and Rachel were involved in this relationship? Did anyone else know about your relationship with her?" she asked._

"_No, no one else knew and yes, I was with Quinn at the time," Finn answered. "But we only slept together one time! And yeah, we kissed a couple times before that but that's it, I swear."_

"_What about the emotional aspect of the relationship? What was that like?" _

_Finn scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean?"_

"_Describe your feelings for Rachel," Detective Minh clarified. "Did you love her?"_

"Finn?" Detective Minh prompted after Finn had failed to answer the question.

"Yeah," Finn finally said. He smiled a little as he thought of Rachel. "I did love her. I still do." He looked up. "That doesn't mean that I killed Quinn though."

"Of course it doesn't," Detective Minh responded, but Finn couldn't tell if she was being sincere or not. "You can go now. I think this is enough. I'll be in contact if we need you for further questioning."

"Please find out who did this to Quinn. We might not have been on the best of terms these past couple of months, but that doesn't mean that I didn't care about her anymore," Finn told the detective.

She nodded. "We'll try our best. Thank you for your time, Finn."

Finn sent her a weak smile and then left the interrogation room. When he was outside, he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. He couldn't believe he was going through this right now. He couldn't believe that Quinn was dead. He kept thinking that at any moment, she would walk up to him and start yelling at him about whatever thing he did that day to piss her off. Or just give him a kiss. She did have her moments sometimes. Moments when she actually acted like she really cared about him. _Fuck. _A tear made its way down his cheek. _She's really not coming back. She's gone. _

"Finn?"

Finn's eyes snapped open as the voice cut through his thoughts. It was Rachel, clutching a pink sweater in her hands and walking towards him with a concerned look on her face.

"Are you okay?"

He sent her a weak smile. "Rachel. Hey."

When Rachel reached him, she instinctively took his hand in hers and started rubbing circles on his palm with the pad of her thumb. She knew from experience that it had a calming effect on him. Whenever he used to go on his long tirades about Quinn over the summer, she always did that to help bring him back down to earth.

Finn looked down at their locked hands in surprise. Other than their hug earlier that week, it had been a long time since she had touched him like that.

"Sorry," she said quickly and started to remove her hand, but he held on tighter.

"It's fine," he told her. "Thank you."

"Are you okay, Finn?" Rachel asked again.

Finn sighed deeply. "No," he admitted. He gestured to the interrogation room. "I guess that took a lot out of me. Have they already talked to you?"

Rachel nodded. "Yes. I just came back to get my sweater and I saw you standing here."

"Oh."

They stood there in silence for a while, still holding hands, when Detective Minh walked out of the room. She stopped when she saw them and pursed her lips. "Hmm." She was quiet for a while and then said, "Why are you two still hanging around here? Go home, get some rest. I know you must be exhausted from everything that's happened this week." She sent them a small smile and then continued her walk down the hall.

Rachel looked up at Finn. "You don't think that she thinks that we killed Quinn, do you?"

"I don't know," Finn told her. "But catching us holding hands out here probably didn't help our case."

"Yeah," Rachel unlinked their hands. "I should probably go. She was right; I am exhausted. I just want to go home and burrow under my covers and never come back out."

"Rachel…"

Rachel stood on her tiptoes and pressed a light kiss to his cheek. "Maybe we'll talk later. Bye Finn," she said and then walked away.

Finn stared after her. "Bye Rachel," he replied but she was already gone.

_Monday, September 24, 2012_

Rachel couldn't go to school that day. She tried to, she didn't just want to stop living her life because of what happened, but it was all starting to catch up with her.

Quinn was dead.

Her best friend was dead and she had no idea how to deal with it. Especially since she had such mixed feelings for Quinn. She missed the good parts of their friendship terribly. Sometimes it would literally hurt and she would spend hours sobbing. But then other times, she felt relieved that she didn't have deal with Quinn anymore. And then she felt incredibly guilty for being relieved that someone is dead. And she would cry some more.

She missed Finn. She wanted him to wrap his arms around her and comfort her. She wanted them to try and get through this together. And she knew that Finn wanted to talk to her as well. All the previous week, he had tried to get her attention at school but other than that first day when she let him comfort her in the classroom and that time when she comforted him outside of the interrogation room, she ignored him. Every time she looked at him, she would flash back to the night when they slept together and remember that terrible fight they had and the nasty things that they said to each other. She would remember telling him that she had faked her feelings toward him and the look on his face afterwards. She felt terrible. She was such a horrible person. Finn deserved better than her. So she avoided him. It took all she could not to give in though.

* * *

Finn was getting his things out of his locker before school when Puck walked up to him. "Dude," he said.

Finn ignored him. Even if he didn't want to be, he was still kind of pissed at Puck for going behind his back. Yeah, he cheated on Quinn, but Puck was supposed to be his best friend. Whatever happened to bros before hoes?

Plus, he was in a shitty mood. Earlier that morning, after he left the house, he had driven all the way to the Fabray house to go pick up his girlfriend before he remembered that he didn't have a girlfriend anymore. Because she was dead. He then proceeded to break down in his car because he felt so damn guilty for spending the summer fooling around with Rachel and the first month of school being pissed at Quinn for being the reason why he and Rachel couldn't be together instead of cherishing the last moments that he had with her. And then he wanted to be with Rachel because she would make him feel better, but he remembered that things were weird as hell between them and he just missed both Quinn and Rachel and proceeded to cry even more. And then he got pissed at himself for being such a baby. So, yeah, he wasn't exactly in the mood to put up with Puck.

"Dude," Puck repeated.

Finn continued to ignore him. He was getting really good at the whole freezing people out thing. His mom, Kurt… He just didn't feel like talking to anyone.

"Dude." "Finn." "_Finn_! Will you just stop being an asshole for a second and look at me?"

Finn sighed and turned towards Puck. "You slept with my girlfriend."

"And you were in love with her best friend. You still are."

"Fuck off."

"I get it. You're pissed at me. But, dude, you have to understand something. I loved her. I fucking _loved _Quinn and now she is dead and it fucking hurts and I know that you're hurting too and I also know that we don't talk about feelings and shit but dude, I just need my best bud back. No one else understands what I'm going through except for Berry but she scares the living hell out of me and I need you, man. I just want my best friend back."

Finn was quiet. "You loved her?"

Puck nodded. "Yeah. I tried to ignore it for a while, 'cause she was your girl and everything, but it was so fucking hard. I mean, that's why I tried so hard to get with Berry. I couldn't have Quinn so the next best thing is Rachel, right? But she wasn't having any of it, and then I started to realize that you weren't in love with Quinn anymore anyway and were sneaking behind her back with Berry, and I was like to hell with it. I was pissed at you for not treating Quinn like she deserved so I went for it."

"We are so fucked up, man."

"For real."

"Did you know she was pregnant?"

Puck shook his head. "Nah. Not until that detective lady told me."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Your kid is, like, dead now. You know, since Quinn is dead."

Puck was quiet. "…yeah."

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Not really."

"I can't believe she's dead."

"I fucking told you I didn't want to talk about it."

"You're the one who came up to me, man. I do want to talk about it."

"Then go talk about it with fucking Berry."

"Rachel won't even look at me!"

"Sucks for you."

"…you wanna get drunk after school?"

"Hell yeah."

* * *

**I hope you liked it? it kinda sucked lol**

**Anyway. **

**Coming up next on uncovered! : Quinn's killer will be revealed. :o gaspppp! But don't fret my lovely readers, just because you find out who killed Quinn doesn't mean that this story will be finished. Remember, this _is _a Finchel story. They have to get their happy ending so I think I still have a few more chapters in me. :)**


	22. Chapter 22

**I lied. **

**Quinn's killer is not revealed in this chapter. I thought he/she was going to be, but as I was writing this, it didn't really fit and... yeah. I promise it'll happen next chapter, though :)  
**

**DISCLAIMER - I don't own Glee or its characters.**

* * *

**uncovered**

_Wednesday, September 26, 2012_

When Kurt returned home from school that afternoon, Finn was sitting on the living room couch, watching ESPN and stuffing his face with grilled cheese. "Finn? What are you doing here? Don't you have football practice?"

"I'm sure they can handle one practice without me."

"It's not just one practice. You've been skipping out on practice for the past two weeks."

"Yes, and there is a reason for that."

"Finn, you can't just stop living your life."

Finn rolled his eyes. "Look, Kurt, I know that you hated Quinn and you're probably cheering inside that she isn't here to make your life hell anymore but that doesn't mean that I feel the same way."

Kurt was shocked. "What the hell, Finn? Yes, I hated Quinn. No, I am not a cold hearted bitch who is happy that someone was murdered. And quite frankly, I am extremely upset with you for implying that I am. I thought you knew me better than that."

"You're right," Finn replied. "I'm sorry."

Kurt sighed and sat down next to his step-brother. "Finn, I get it. You're going through a rough time right now. Maybe what you need is to talk about it. It can't be healthy keeping your feelings locked up like this. Have you thought about going to see a therapist? Or Miss Pillsbury?"

"Definitely not. And that is the same thing that I told Detective Minh and Principal Figgins when they suggested it."

"Well, Finn, I don't know what to do," Kurt said. "You won't talk to anyone. Not me, not Carole, not Burt… I noticed that you and Puck are back on good terms, but I assume that you two don't have the type of friendship where you sit around a campfire and discuss your feelings…" Suddenly, Kurt thought of someone who could get through to Finn. He didn't like it, but he wanted Finn to get better. Finn looked fine on the outside, but anyone close to him could tell that he was really torn up about Quinn's death. "Okay, what about Rachel? Would you talk to her? I assume that she understands what you are going through. I mean, Quinn _was _her best friend and all."

Finn noticed the bitter tone in Kurt's voice, but decided to ignore it. "Rachel is avoiding me. I mean, we've talked a couple times since Quinn… died, but other than that she is totally freezing me out. Kind of like she did after, you know, that night of the musical."

"I still can't believe she said those things to you. I can't believe that she chose to stay in her crappy friendship with Quinn over the amazing friendship that we had cultivated in Her Royal Highness' absence."

Finn sighed. "Cut her some slack, Kurt."

"No!" Kurt exclaimed. "The way she treated us was despicable. Like a used car that she was just borrowing while her super fancy expensive car was getting detailed."

"Okay, I kind of understand why you are upset, you didn't do anything wrong," Finn replied. "But, I kinda screwed her over too. I mean, I had a girlfriend the whole time we were together."

"And she knew that! So she has no right to hold that against you. If she had a problem with it, she should have just ended things."

"Kurt…"

Kurt sighed. "I don't want to argue about Rachel. I don't even want to talk or think about her. The only reason I brought her up is because I think that you should talk to her about Quinn. Maybe she can help you cope."

"Yeah, but that's only gonna happen if she ever talks to me again."

* * *

Rachel was lying in her bed, eating a huge bowl of sorbet and watching West Side Story, when her dad knocked on her door. She sighed. Her dads had been hovering over her a lot since Quinn's death. Didn't they get that she just wanted some space?

"Pumpkin?" she heard her dad call from outside the door.

"Yes Daddy?" she called back.

"One of your friends is here to see you."

Rachel frowned in confusion as she got up and walked over to the door. She opened it and asked her dad, "Which one?" She laughed a little inside her head. If you would have told crazy Rachel Berry that she would one day have to ask her daddy to clarify which friend had come to visit her, she should have laughed if your face.

Hiram shrugged. "I am not sure… she is very loud and abrasive though. And kind of rude."

Rachel laughed. "Oh, it must be Santana," she told him. "I wonder what she is doing here… Thank you, Daddy."

"No problem, sweetheart," Hiram replied. He pressed a quick kiss to his daughter's forehead and then walked away.

Rachel sighed and then walked downstairs to see what Santana wanted. "Santana… what are you doing here?" she asked when she reached the living room and saw Santana sitting on the couch, her feet up on the coffee table, and flipping through the channels on the flat screen.

"Hobbit! So nice of you to finally join me," Santana replied. She patted the empty space next to her. "Sit. Come and have a chat with Santana."

Rachel walked over to the couch and sat down next to the girl that she was surprised was becoming a really good friend of hers. Throughout the past two weeks, Rachel had been spending a lot of time with Santana since she didn't really want to talk to anybody else and things were still a little (okay, a lot) tense between her and Finn. It was weird, actually being friends with Santana, but she kind of liked it. Especially since Santana would scare away all the people who gawked at her like she was some freak show. "You're referring to yourself in the third person now, I see. Is this going to become a new thing?"

Santana shrugged. "We'll see," she said. "But that's not what I came all the way here, this place is hella far from Lima Heights Adjacent by the way, clearly this new friendship is gonna rack my gas bill up, that's not what I came here to talk to you about."

Rachel was getting a little worried. "Is everything okay?"

"Puckerman and I were talking and…" Santana started, but Rachel interrupted her.

"Just talking?"

Santana just sent her a knowing smile and then continued what she was about to say. "We were talking and he mentioned to me that Frankenteen is all bent up because you're ignoring him. And to that I say, what the hell? Why are you ignoring him? I thought you two were comforting each other after losing someone important to you or whatever crap you spewed to me last week."

"It is hard being around Finn," was all that Rachel said.

Santana rolled her eyes. "Seems to me like it's harder _not _being around Finn. He obviously makes you feel better. Don't you want to feel better?"

"Look, Santana, I appreciate your concern, but I think I know what's best for me better than you do."

Santana shrugged and stood up. "Fine. You don't have to take my advice," she said and then headed towards the door. She was just about to leave when she turned back around and added, "But when you finally get your head from out of your ass and see what's right in front of you, aka Finn, feel free to thank me." She sent a peace sign and then let herself out of the house.

Rachel just groaned and fell back against the couch. Santana was right, as much as it pained her to say it. She did want to talk to Finn because it would make her feel much better. It would make dealing with living without Quinn much easier. So why couldn't she just tell that to Finn?

* * *

**Another filler chapter woooo lol at least you got two chapters in two days? no? okay.****But um, I'm just want to run an idea by you guys. So, I am thinking of writing a story where Finn gets sent to a mental institution and Dr. Berry (aka Rachel) is a clinical psychologist and she gets assigned to him after Dr. Sylvester's methods are a total fail and anyways Finn ends up falling for his therapist, which actually happens quite a bit (you know, transference! woot woot ap psych vocab word) but this is different in that the therapist falls for the patient as well. It's kinda different and I want to know if you guys would be interested in reading a story about that.**

**SO YEAH. Tell me what you think :D**


	23. Chapter 23

**New chapter! Finally! lol I hope you like it! Sorry I couldn't put it up faster, I have been really busy lately.  
**

**Also, please keep in mind that I know next to nothing about murder investigations and whatnot so yeahhh things might not be right lol it doesn't take away from the story though I don't think **

**DISCLAIMER - I don't own Glee or its characters.**

* * *

**uncovered**

_Thursday, September 27, 2012_

Rachel had finally dragged herself out of bed long enough to actually go to school for the first time that week and was sitting with Santana and Brittany during lunch.

"Santana, I have a question," she announced. "Were you the one who told Quinn about Finn and me?" That morning, on the drive to school, she had been thinking about the terrible argument between her and Quinn after Quinn had found out that she had slept with Finn. And for some reason, that question had been nagging at her all morning.

"Duh," Santana told her and then she smiled sheepishly. "Are you pissed?"

Rachel was quiet for a while and then said, "Surprisingly, no. I do want to know one thing though. How'd you know about us?"

"Hobbit, I told you…" Santana started.

Rachel rolled her eyes. Clearly just because they were friends, Santana wasn't going to give up her insulting nickname.

"…I can tell when two people have had sex. It's a gift," Santana continued. She shrugged. "Plus, I totally saw you two going at it in his truck at the lake that one night."

Rachel's eyes widened. "What?" she asked, horrified. "Finn said that no one goes to that lake. It was our special place."

Santana pretended to gag. "Your special place? Oh my goodness that's disgustingly sweet," she said. "And I was pissed at my parents and needed to find a place of my own to get away so I went searching around Lima to find one. It took me a while, but I found that lake and I had been going there all summer. So imagine my surprise when I found you and Finnocence there swapping spit."

Rachel groaned and covered her face with her hands. "This is_ so_ embarrassing!"

"Don't be so dramatic, Rachel," Santana said with a laugh. "Besides, it was kind of hot."

Brittany looked up from the sculpture that she was making with her mashed potatoes. "Are you and Finn going to date now?" she asked Rachel.

Rachel sighed as she thought about Finn. "I don't know," she answered. "I mean, I definitely have feelings for him but I…ugh, I don't know."

"I think you should," Santana said. "You two obviously care about each other. And if people give you crap about dating your dead best friend's boyfriend, just tell them to shut the fuck up or you'll sick Santana on them."

Rachel ignored the twinge in her stomach at the mention of Quinn and let out a small laugh. Even though Santana's comment was slightly (okay a lot, but it's _Santana_) insensitive, she still appreciated the sentiment. "Thanks, Santana. I'll keep that in mind." It was getting easier, learning to live without Quinn her life, but she still felt like she was missing an arm. Quinn had always been there, whether she wanted her to be or not, and now she wasn't.

"Hey, what's going on?" Brittany asked and pointed to the other side of the lunchroom, where two uniformed officers had come in and where handcuffing Lauren Zizes and guiding her out of the room.

Rachel frowned. "I don't know…"

"You don't think that she did it, did you?" Santana asked, not having to clarify what 'it' was.

"Aw, I hope not," Brittany said. "She's so nice. She gave me free tickets to her wrestling match."

"You like wrestling, Brit?" Santana asked.

"Yeah," Brittany answered. "It's so cool. Kind of dirty, though, if you know what I mean."

* * *

The whole school was buzzing at the events that took place during lunchtime.

"Lauren could never have killed Quinn! Yeah, she is super huge and super scary, but she's like a giant teddy bear once you get to know her."

"Lauren Zizes? Come on, you don't _really _think she did it, do you?"

"Who's Lauren Zizes?"

"…wait. Quinn's dead?! I thought she was just still on her vacation to Florida. Maybe I shouldn't spend so much time drugged up…"

"I don't know… Zizes does act psycho sometimes. I mean, did you see her go off on Puck yesterday? Like, all Puck said was hi, and she freaked out and slammed him against the lockers. I've never seen Puck looked so scared. Like a little baby. Hahahaha."

"I can't believe they just barged in and arrested her like that. In front of everyone. You'd think they'd at least do it in private or something."

"Lauren did _not _kill Quinn. She couldn't have. …could she?"

* * *

After lunch, Finn and Rachel were both called into the principal's office where they were informed that they were wanted down at the police station to talk to Detective Minh about the investigation of Quinn's death.

"Finn, Rachel, thank you for joining me. Please sit," Detective Minh said as an officer ushered them into her office.

Finn and Rachel exchanged glances and then sat down in the two chairs situated in front of the detective's desk.

"You are probably wondering what I called you all the way here for," Detective Minh started. "We have already talked to Miss Fabray's parents and they told me that it might be a good idea to inform you of the latest developments in the investigation before you heard a whole bunch of warped rumors through the grapevine. So, as you may have already noticed, we have apprehended a suspect who we believe is responsible for the murder of your classmate."

"Lauren?" Rachel asked.

Detective Minh nodded. "Yes. We have her in custody right now and after I finish here, I am going to go take her statement."

Rachel shook her head. "Are you sure? I mean, Lauren Zizes? You really believe that she is capable of such a horrific thing?"

"Miss Berry, you would be surprised at the things that people are capable of."

"Detective?" Finn asked.

"Yes?"

"Would it be possible if we were able to watch Lauren give her statement? You know, through that glass wall thing where we can see into the room but they can't see out?" he asked. "I really would like to know why she did it."

"Finn," Rachel said quietly. "Do you really believe that Lauren killed Quinn? I mean, maybe this is all a misunderstanding."

"We have strong evidence stacked against her, Miss Berry," Detective Minh interjected. "Trust me, with such a high profile case we have been very thorough and exhausted every possibility. I am confident that we have caught the right person. I wouldn't have called you down here otherwise."

"I just can't believe that she would do something like this," Rachel said. "I mean, I know she's kind of… large, but she wouldn't hurt a fly."

"Rachel, she is a wrestler," Finn reminded her. "I mean, she basically beats people up for fun. It's not that far of a stretch."

"Yes, wrestling is an aggressive sport, but football is pretty aggressive too!" Rachel protested. "Are you gonna tell me that you killing someone isn't that far of a stretch?"

"Rachel…" Finn started, but Detective Minh interrupted them.

"I have to go take Miss Zizes' statement. If you want to come, please do so now," she said as she stood up and grabbed a notebook and pen off of her desk.

Finn immediately got up and started to follow the detective out of the room, but hesitated when he saw that Rachel was still sitting, just staring into space. "Rach? Are you coming?"

"I don't know…"

"Come on, maybe it'll clear some things up for you."

"Provide closure?"

Finn shrugged. "Maybe."

Rachel looked up at him. "You really think that she did it?" she asked.

"They know more about what happened that night than we do," Finn told her. He held out his hand. "Come on."

Rachel sighed. "Okay," she agreed as she took hold of his hand, trying her best to ignore the tingles that went up and down her arm at the physical contact, and allowed him to lead her out of the room.

* * *

Finn and Rachel stared through the glass window into the interrogation room where Lauren Zizes was sitting on one side of the table, staring down at her hands, and where Detective Minh was standing opposite her.

"Can you tell me what happened between you and Quinn Fabray on Saturday, September 22, 2012?"

Lauren did not respond.

"Miss Zizes, do you admit that you responsible for the death of Quinn Fabray?" Detective Minh continued.

Lauren did not say a word.

"Miss Zizes, we have significant evidence indicting you for this crime. Make this easier for yourself and cooperate."

Finally, Lauren spoke. "I want to talk to Rachel Berry."

On the other side of the wall, Rachel's eyes widened in surprise and she gasped. "Why does she want to talk to me?" Finn squeezed her hand, letting her know that he was by her side.

"You can't talk to Miss Berry," Detective Minh told Lauren.

"I want to talk to Rachel. She is the only person that I will talk to. I don't care if you listen in; I just want to talk to Rachel."

"Well," said Detective Minh. "You are in luck. It just so happens that Rachel is on the other side of that mirror. Would you like me to see if she wants to talk to you?"

"Yes please."

"Very well." Detective Minh walked out of the room into the hallway where Finn, Rachel, another detective, and an officer were standing. "Miss Berry? Are you willing to talk to the suspect?"

Rachel looked back at Finn, who gave her a small smile and squeezed her hand again. "It's okay. Go."

Rachel nodded and turned back to the detective. "Yes," she told her.

"Okay then. Let's go."

Rachel took in a deep breath and then followed Detective Minh into the interrogation room.

"Can you leave?" Lauren asked Detective Minh. "I'd feel more comfortable talking to Rachel alone."

"I don't think that is such a good idea."

"Well I'm not talking."

Detective Minh resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Fine then," she gave in. She turned to Rachel, who was freaking out at the idea of being left alone in the room with Lauren. If she really did kill Quinn, who's to say that she wasn't going to kill her too? "I'll be right outside if you need anything. And I'm leaving Officer Plume in here. He doesn't leave." She sent a pointed look to Lauren, who sighed and rolled her eyes, and then left the room, closing the door behind her.

"Sit," Lauren commanded Rachel, gesturing to the chair across from her.

"I don't know… I'm fine standing…"

"Sit down!"

Rachel hurriedly complied. "Okay, okay, I'm sitting."

Lauren smiled. "Good," she said. "Now, you're probably wondering if it's true. If I really did kill Quinn."

"Did you?" Rachel asked, hoping that the answer would be no.

Lauren nodded. "Yes. I did." She looked past Rachel, into the mirror, where she knew that Detective Minh was watching. "You hear that? I killed Quinn Fabray."

Rachel stared at her in horror. "How could you do such a thing, Lauren?" she inquired. "And how can you sound so unremorseful? Even proud?"

"Well, let me tell you a story, Rachel," Lauren said. "It all started when your best friend walked up to me in homeroom and questioned me about what I was writing down in my notebook. Of course, I didn't tell her, but she guessed that it was about Puck and go figure, she was right. I've had a crush on Puckerman for as long as I can remember. He's just so badass, you know? And that is super attractive to me. So when Quinn just guessed the secret that I had been trying so hard to hide for so long, I immediately got defensive and denied everything. She saw through me though, that bitch, and later that day, at lunch, cornered me in the hallway and started questioning me. I was getting really pissed off at her until she started sympathizing with me and feeding me a whole bunch of crap about how she 'understood what I was going through'. I should have known better. I should have known that she was lying. For one, she gets everything and everybody that she wants. How could she have understood what I was going through? And two, she doesn't give a shit about anybody but herself. I should have known that this was all a joke. But no, I felt all warm and fuzzy that _Quinn Fabray _of all people was being nice to me. So when she offered me to come to a sleepover at her house so that she could help me get Puck, of course I immediately agreed, not even thinking about what could go wrong."

"So what happened when you went to her house?"

"Well, I went and at first it was alright. She listened to me gush about Puckerman and was doing my hair and makeup and I was actually having fun," Lauren explained. "But then she said that she wanted a salad."

Rachel was confused. What did a salad have to do with anything? "Um… okay. Go on."

"Quinn wanted a salad and she wanted me to help her make it so we made our way to the kitchen. I was cutting up the tomatoes when I noticed a camera in the corner of the dining room, where we had been sitting. I asked her about it, and of course she made up some lie to cover her ass, but I believed her at the time. But then I looked down into the sink and, thanks to her extremely shiny and _reflective _sink, I saw what she had done to me. She hadn't let me look at myself in a mirror because she wanted to wait until she was finished so that I could get the 'full effect'. Well, let me tell you, when I saw my reflection in the sink, I got the full effect alright. She made me look like a clown! A troll! I was so ugly in that moment. And that is when I knew that her intentions were not at all pure.

"I looked back at the camera again and saw a little blinked red light and realized that she had been filming everything. I was going to wait until after we ate to confront her about it because you know, I was actually really hungry. But while we were making the salad, she suddenly turned really mean and cruel, back to the Quinn that I know, and started saying all of this humiliating stuff. And it was all on camera! Like, when I went to grab the ranch dressing,she was all like, 'Oh no, Lauren, that dressing is for me. I can afford a couple of extra calories. You, unfortunately, cannot. Yours is over there' and forced me to get the fat-free. And then when I put the ranch over my salad, and I didn't even get that much, she said, 'Wow, Lauren. Do you want some salad with your dressing?' like I had drenched my salad with ranch when in reality, I didn't even get that much!

"Anyway, she kept being horribly rude to me and then started making fun of my crush on Puck and telling me about how I wasn't even on his radar and she was all like, 'I mean, look at you. Why would any respectable person date you?' and pulled out a mirror from her purse and made me look at the mess that she made of me and I just couldn't take it anymore. I snapped and grabbed the knife that I had used to cut the tomatoes and I stabbed her. And I stabbed her again. And again. Over and over. I was just so blinded by rage, I didn't realize what I was doing until after it was already done and she was dead, lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood. And then once I realized what I had done, I quickly washed myself and the knife off, and got the hell out of there before her parents got home."

There was a long pause after Lauren had finished speaking.

"I… I don't know what to say," Rachel finally said. "I can't believe that you would do something so horrible. I mean, I am so sorry about how Quinn treated you, but killing her? Did you really have to go so far?" She wiped a couple of tears that had escaped as she imagined the pain and horror that her best friend must have gone through.

Lauren scoffed at Rachel's tears. She couldn't believe that she was actually crying and felt sorry for Quinn. **"**You should be happy," she told her.

Rachel was appalled. "Happy? You killed my best friend."

Lauren laughed. "You know what? I did you a favor, Rachel. She was going to tell the whole school about your little affair with Finn Hudson. And how do you think that would make you look? Yeah, Finn cheated on Quinn. But everyone knew that Quinn was a bitch. They wouldn't care that her boyfriend cheated on her. Everyone knows that guys can't keep their dick in their pants. But you, you would be the girl that slept with her best friend's boyfriend. You'd look like a slut. And all the guys would be pissed because you wouldn't sleep with them, but you'd sleep with Finn. And they would start spreading rumors about you. She was going to make herself look like the victim. Make everyone feel sorry for her, and turn on you. It wouldn't be that hard, you know. The only reason you're popular now is because of her. Yeah, you think we all forgot about crazy Rachel Berry from middle school? Hahaha no."

"How'd you find out about Finn and I?" Rachel asked.

Lauren ignored her. "Never mind that," she said dismissively. "You know, it is amazing. How much you have changed. Before Quinn came, who was the biggest bitch in Lima? Santana Lopez. She made your life hell, Rachel. And now you two are buddies. I used to think you were cool, Rachel. How you didn't care about what anyone thought about you? I guess I was wrong. You're just like Quinn. Just like her."

Rachel couldn't take it anymore. Was Lauren really trying to act like killing Quinn was a good thing? Like she did her a favor? "I am nothing like Quinn, alright? Yes, I may have lost my way a bit over the last few years, but what Quinn did to you? I would never do that. And yes, what Quinn did to you was terrible and if she was still here, I would make sure that she knew that, but she did not deserve to be murdered. What you did was a terrible thing, Lauren. And you don't even feel bad about it! That is the worst part. You are acting like it's a good thing when you should know that it is the most horrible thing. Taking another person's life. That is terrible and you should feel guilty. Guilty and remorseful and I hope that while you are locked up for what you did that you take a good long look at your life and the choices that you made and realize why I am not _happy _and I am not thanking you for killing my _best friend_. Have a nice life, Lauren." She stood up and promptly made her way out of the room before she did something that she would regret.

She took a deep breath to compose herself and closed her eyes to keep the tears from spilling over. She opened them when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Finn.

"You okay?" he asked. "You did great."

She nodded and tried her best not to break down in front of him. "I'm okay. I'll be okay," she told him. "I really want to go home now though and I don't think I am up for driving right now so would you mind taking me to my house?"

"No, not at all," Finn said.

Rachel sent him a grateful smile. "Thank you, Finn. For everything."

* * *

**So... how many of you guessed that it was Lauren? I put some hints in the earlier chapters, lol, so if you missed them you can go back and read and be all like, "What?! How did I not get that?!" But if it was obvious that it was Lauren, then I hope you still enjoyed the story lol **

**But wait it's not over yet! There's still two or three more chapters! And it looks like things have thawed a little between Finn and Rachel. I wonder what will happen next? :D****  
**

**Hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you think? ;)**


	24. Chapter 24

**Soooo you guys are awesome. I always love reading your reviews :D  
**

**Anyway. Here is the next chapter... I hope you like it!**

**DISCLAIMER - I don't own Glee or its characters.**

* * *

**uncovered**

_Saturday, September 27, 2012_

When Rachel woke up early that Saturday morning, she was surprised to find that she was actually in a good mood. Well, a relatively good mood. She was still hurting over all that had happened, but for the first time, she did not feel like bursting into tears every five seconds, which was a relief. She was feeling so good in fact, that she decided that she would venture out of her house and head to Swirl's to get some her favorite raspberry-lemon sorbet.

So she was standing at the counter, waiting for her sorbet and desperately wishing that the guy would hurry up so she wouldn't have to deal with _another _person coming up to her and telling her how sorry they were about Quinn's death and telling her that they understand when really they don't, when she heard a voice behind her ask, "Did it hurt? You know, when you fell from heaven?" It suddenly felt like there were a thousand tiny acrobats performing circus tricks in her stomach.

She turned around and was met with the face, or rather… chest, of one Finn Hudson. A small smile played on her lips as she looked up at him. "I thought I told you to never ask me that again, Finn."

Finn shrugged as he grinned, showing off his dimples. "I figured I would risk your wrath if it would get you to talk to me again."

"Finn…" She didn't a chance to continue because the guy behind the counter returned with her sorbet. She started to hand him a five dollar bill, but Finn reached around her and paid for her sorbet himself. "Finn, you didn't need to do that."

Finn waved a dismissive hand. "Don't worry 'bout it, Rach," he said and then turned back to the employee. "Can I have a vanilla soft-serve?"

"Yes, coming right up," the guy said and then turned around to make Finn's ice-cream.

"Finn, I am perfectly capable of paying for myself," Rachel said, putting her hands on her hips and staring up at Finn with a stern expression.

Finn couldn't help but laugh.

Rachel stomped her foot and pouted. "Finn!" she exclaimed. "It is not funny!"

Finn laughed even harder. "It kinda is," he told her. The employee returned with his ice-cream and he paid for it. He looked around and noticed a lot of the people in the shop observing their interactions. "Come on,Rach," he said, laid a hand on the small of her back, and led her to a secluded booth in the back of the shop.

Rachel sent him a questioning look from across the table.

"People were staring," Finn explained.

Rachel nodded knowingly. "Ah," she responded. "I know. It's terrible. It seems like we get more attention now than when Quinn was still here."

"Well we're the best friend and the boyfriend of the dead girl," Finn said. "That's bound to get us some attention." Rachel winced and he frowned. "Sorry," he apologized.

"It's fine, Finn," Rachel told him. "So, did Mr. and Mrs. Fabray talk to you about the funeral tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Are you going?"

"Yes," Rachel said. "It's going to be hard, but I feel like I owe Quinn that much."

Finn nodded in agreement. "I can't believe her parents want us to sit in the front row with them. I don't think I can do that. I still feel so guilty about everything."

"I know," Rachel agreed. "And then everyone is going to be staring at us… it's going to be horrible."

"At least there's the private ceremony first," Finn told her.

"Yeah," Rachel said quietly. A tear fell down her cheek. "I still can't believe she's gone. I mean, it's getting easier, but… it still hurts every time I think about it."

Finn reached across the table and took her hand in his. "I know, Rachel. I know."

"I just… how is this fair?" Rachel asked. "How is that we are sitting here with the rest of our lives ahead of us and Quinn is dead? She'll never graduate high school, get married, and have kids… She's stuck at seventeen forever."

"It isn't fair, you're right," Finn answered. "But at least we can rest on the fact that the person who did that to her has been brought to justice."

"And Lauren!" Rachel exclaimed. "I cannot believe that she is the one who did this! And feels no regret about it! Quinn was right; people can change."

"Rach, your sorbet's melting," Finn said, pointing to her still full bowl.

Rachel sighed as she looked down. "I guess I wasn't in as good of a mood as I thought. I should have stayed home. I can't deal with this."

"It's my fault, I shouldn't have bothered you," Finn said and started to release her hand, but Rachel held on tighter.

"No, Finn," she replied. "You are part of the reason why I haven't gone completely off the walls yet. I know I've been avoiding you, but it isn't because of something that you did. I just… not only am I upset about Quinn's death, but I am upset about how things ended between us. I feel so bad about what happened."

"Rachel..." Finn told her, looking her into the eyes. "I meant what I said."

Rachel frowned, confused.

"The night that Quinn… died," Finn clarified. "When you called me. The first time."

"I didn't call you, Finn," Rachel said. "It was a butt dial. Completely unintentional."

"Okay, if you say so," Finn replied teasingly, not convinced, but then turned serious again. "Like I told you that night, I love you, Rachel. Despite everything that happened that night, I still love you. And I miss you. So much it hurts. Rach, I already lost Quinn; don't make me lose you too. I want you in my life again."

Rachel started tearing up and quickly wiped them away. "Finn, don't you think we should have this conversation in a less public place?" she said through her tears.

"You're right," Finn said and stood up. "Let's go."

* * *

Ten minutes later, Finn and Rachel were sitting Indian-style across from each other on his bed. The house was empty and was eerily quiet.

"Finn," Rachel started. "You should know that I… I love you too."

"You mean that?"

Rachel nodded as she looked down and played with a loose string on his comforter. "I do," she said. "I just didn't know what to do that night. You were serious about breaking up with Quinn to be with me and I knew that Quinn would ruin your life, and I selfishly didn't want to lose all that being Quinn's best friend came with, and I also felt really guilty about sneaking around behind her back and I just… I needed to convince you that what we were doing needed to be stopped. So I told you things that I knew would hurt you."

"You didn't need to do that, Rachel," Finn replied. "We would have figured it out."

"Well it's all moot now, isn't it?" Rachel said darkly.

"Yeah. I guess it is."

Rachel took in a deep breath and then looked up. "But never mind that," she said. "What I am trying to say is that I do love you, Finn. I've been in love with you for a while now, I just didn't admit it." Finn was quiet and didn't say anything, just looked at her. She fidgeted nervously. "Say something, Finn. Don't just let me sit here, feeling like a fool. Is it too late? Am I too late? Did I do irreversible damage to our already messed-up relationship? Do you—"

She didn't finish, because before she knew it, Finn's lips were on hers. And it. was. paradise. She had almost forgotten how good Finn's kisses made her feel. She sighed contently and then reluctantly pulled away. "Finn, we can't just kiss and not talk," she told him. "We have to—"

"Shut up, Rachel," Finn mumbled against her lips and then resumed kissing her. This time, Rachel didn't stop and she put as much as herself into the kiss as he did.

Finn pulled her into his lap and she ran her fingers through his hair. "Mmmm, Finn," she moaned as he pressed kisses along the length of her neck.

"I love you," Finn whispered into her collarbone and then focused his attention there.

Rachel could barely string together a coherent sentence. It wasn't fair how good he made her feel. "I… I love… I love you too," she finally got out.

Finn smiled against her skin. It made him so happy that they could finally say that to each other. He flipped them over so that her back was to the bed and he was above her, making his way back to her mouth. He reattached their lips and she immediately deepened the kiss, moaning when their tongues made contact. Her hands found their way up his shirt and she ran her fingernails down his back, making him shiver in appreciation.

"Damn, you are beautiful," he told her, his voice starting to become ragged.

"No, you are," she whispered back at him. "So handsome. I can't believe that I am here with you right now." She wrapped a leg around his back and pulled him down closer, so that his body was flush with hers. She blushed when she felt him against her thigh, but she was pleased to know that she wasn't the only one affected by their actions.

"Should we stop?" Finn asked, as he slid his hand up under her shirt, moving it across her smooth skin.

Rachel's eyes fluttered closed and she hummed in appreciation as Finn continued his ministrations. "No. Please don't," she breathed out.

"Are you sure?" Finn said. "Because if we don't stop soon, I'm not sure that I'll be able to later."

Rachel reached up and pulled his head down to hers. "I'm sure, Finn," she told him and kissed him, long and hard, sealing the deal.

* * *

"I have to go," Rachel whispered into the darkness later that night. "My dads are probably waiting up for me."

Finn nodded. "Okay," he replied, his voice laced with sleep. "I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"Right."

Finn searched blindly until he found her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "It'll be okay, Rach. I'll be right by your side."

Rachel leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to the side of his mouth. "You are too good to me, Finn Hudson."

"Only because I love you," Finn told her. "And you deserve it."

"Are you sure about that?" Rachel asked. "I mean, I just slept with my dead best friend's boyfriend. Again."

"Rachel…"

Rachel sighed. "I'm sorry," she said. "Go back to sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

Finn let out a large yawn and then turned over on his stomach and closed his eyes. "Okay," he replied, his voice muffled by the pillow.

Rachel giggled. "Goodnight, Finn."

"G'night."

* * *

**Aww, they love each other! :) ****Btw, I am obviously not gonna do a chapter about the funeral because the funeral was in the prologue, plus I kind hate funerals and don't want to go into much detail about them so. **

**Also, this story is almost over. Like, there is one more chapter and an epilogue. :(  
**


	25. Chapter 25

**Oh noes you guys! After this, there is the epilogue, and then the story is finished! :o *cries*  
**

***clears throat* **

**Anyway... I hope you like this chapter!**

**DISCLAIMER - I don't own Glee or its characters.**

* * *

**uncovered**

_Monday, October 8, 2012_

Things couldn't be going better for both Finn and Rachel.

Quinn's funeral had been tough, but it had also provided closure and that is exactly what they had needed. They could both begin to really and truly move on.

It had been a week since they were together and their relationship was slowly beginning to mend itself. They were beginning to be the couple that they were over the summer but this time with no lies and secrets. It was bliss. After everything that they had been through together, they knew that they could count on and trust one another. Their relationship was amazing because not only did they love one another with all that they had, but over the course of five months, they had quickly become each other's best friends. And there was nothing more special than that.

It hadn't taken much more than a couple beers and a round of Halo for Finn and Puck to become best buds again. They had been like brothers for as long as he could remember and Finn was glad that they were back to that point. He couldn't imagine his life without Puck in it and regretted that they had ever let a girl get in the way of their friendship.

Rachel's friendship with Santana was quickly blossoming and the person who had once been her greatest enemy was now one of her closest friends. There was one thing that was missing though. She hadn't talked to Kurt at all since he had given her his condolences for Quinn's death and she missed him terribly. She hated how things had ended between them and she wanted nothing more than for their friendship to be restored. Santana was great, but Kurt understood and related to her more than anyone she had ever met before. They just _got _each other and she wanted to be able to have his companionship again.

* * *

Rachel was sitting at a table with Finn, Puck, and Santana as she looked wistfully across the lunchroom to where Kurt was sitting with his friends. "Do you think he'll ever talk to me again? I miss him _so _much."

Finn took her hand in his and squeezed it supportively. "Even though he'd rather burn all his scarves than admit it, he misses you too, Rach."

"Then why won't he talk to me?" Rachel despaired.

Santana rolled her eyes. "You know, Hobbit, I don't see what is so special about Lady Hummel's friendship," she said. "And besides, you have us. Are we not enough for you?"

"No, you guys are great. I love you all so much, strange as that may be," Rachel told her. "I just… I need someone to gush over Funny Girl with."

"Okay, that's it," Santana said and got up out of her seat.

"What are you doing?" Rachel asked warily.

Santana sent her a smile. "I'll be right back."

"Wait, Santana!" Rachel called out, but it was too late. Santana was already making her way to Kurt's lunch table. "Great."

Puck laughed as he stuffed his face with a handful of French fries. "Isn't she cute?"

Rachel gave Puck a look of disbelief. "Cute? Did you just call _Santana_ cute?"

Puck nodded. "Yeah," he said. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Are we talking about the same girl? Santana is not _cute_, Noah," Rachel replied. She gestured to where Santana was deep in conversation with Kurt about something. Kurt did not look happy. "I mean, look at her. She is probably ruining whatever chance that I had of salvaging my friendship with Kurt."

"I know; it's adorable," Puck said, a cheesy smile on his face.

"I am glad you find Santana's demanding and assertive personality adorable, Noah. Your taste in women is impeccable."

"Well, he did have a thing for you once…" Finn told her. "And chill, Rach. You should be happy that it seems like Puck is finally settling down and interested in a real relationship."

Rachel gasped and she turned in her seat to face Finn. "Are you insinuating that I am demanding and assertive, Finn?" she asked, deciding not to reply to his comment abut Puck, even though she agreed.

Finn shifted in his seat as he tried to conjure up an answer that wouldn't ruin all the progress that he and Rachel had made in their relationship in the past week. "Um…no?"

"You should be flattered, Berry," Puck chimed in.

Rachel glared at him. "No one asked you, Noah."

"Hey, look," Finn said. "Santana is coming back. And she has Kurt with her."

"What?" Rachel asked, her eyes widening.

Santana smiled when she returned to the table, keeping Kurt from running away by digging her nails into his forearm. "Hobbit, Kurt has something to say to you." She nudged Kurt when he didn't say anything. "Talk, Hummel."

Kurt sighed. "Rachel, I really miss you and it would please me greatly if after school you would come over to my house and we have a nice talk where we air out all of our problems and restore our friendship."

Rachel didn't say anything.

"Well…?" Santana prompted.

"That is what I have wanted to hear for a really long time, but honestly? It only means something to me if you are being sincere. I don't want you to be forced to be my friend," Rachel told Kurt. Her eyes started watering as she started to realize that maybe she really never would be Kurt's friend again.

"Dude," Finn said to Kurt, displeasure in his voice. He wrapped an arm around Rachel and rubbed her shoulder comfortingly.

Rachel shook her head. "It's fine, Finn," she told him. "You can go now, Kurt. Santana, let him go."

Santana rolled her eyes and let go of Kurt's arm. "You are dismissed, Lady Hummel."

* * *

"I didn't mean to hurt him, Finn," Rachel said later that day when she and Finn were lying across her bed, relaxing after a long day.

Finn twirled a strand of her hair around his finger. "I know, Rach."

"I mean, I understand why he is so upset with me, but it's not like ending our friendship was an easy decision for me," Rachel continued.

"I know, Rach. I know," Finn agreed. He knew that it was better to just let Rachel talk and get her feelings out before chiming in with his own opinions.

"Ugh, it is just so frustrating!" Rachel exclaimed.

"It'll be okay, Rachel. He'll get over eventually," Finn told her. "I did."

Rachel smiled as she looked up at him. "That is because you're amazing."

Finn shrugged modestly. "I'm not _that _amazing."

"So modest," Rachel said with a laugh. She kissed the underside of his jaw. "You are the most amazing guy I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, Finn Hudson. And feel flattered. My approval is something greatly desired."

"Oh, don't worry," Finn told him. "I am very flattered."

"Good," Rachel replied. She stretched her neck to meet his lips in a kiss, but just before their lips touched, the doorbell rang.

Finn groaned. "Are your dads here?"

Rachel shook her head. "Nope."

"Damn," Finn cursed. "I was just gonna tell you to let them get it, but I guess you have to go…"

Rachel giggled as she got up off of the bed. "I'll be right back," she said and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek.

"Hurry back!" Finn called after her as she left the room and started down the stairs. "The bed is cold without you!"

* * *

When Rachel opened the front door, the last thing she expected to see was Kurt standing there. "Kurt!" she exclaimed in surprise. "What… what are you doing here?"

Kurt walked into the house and closed the door behind him. "I'm here to talk to you, obviously." He noticed Rachel glance up the stairs and smirked. "Oh, is my brother here?" He laughed at Rachel's expression. "Don't think that I didn't see you sneaking out of our house the other night, Rachel. And besides, you guys are all over each other at school. I assume you have rekindled your relationship?"

"I mean, it's not official or anything, but yes. I guess we have."

Kurt sat down on the edge of the couch and crossed his arms. "You know, at first I was skeptical when I heard about you and Santana's new friendship, but she's not as bad as I thought. You know, when she isn't being an evil bitch and digging her nails into my flesh."

Rachel winched. "Sorry about that."

Kurt shrugged. "It's fine."

Rachel took a deep breath as she prepared herself for what she was about to say. "Kurt… I'm sorry. I am _so _sorry. I never wanted to hurt you and that is exactly what I did and I feel terrible about it. You are honestly the best friend that I have ever had and the fact that I ruined that so incredibly, makes me sick. But, Kurt, you have to know that the only reason why I ended our friendship is because I was scared of Quinn. Yes, scared of what she would do to me if she came back and saw that we were still friends after she explicitly told me that was not okay, but mostly I was scared of what she would do to you. She already hated you for pretty much no reason at all, she would have made your life a living hell if I gave her reason to. And I did not want to put you through that."

"I know."

Rachel stared at him. "You know?" she asked.

Kurt nodded. "Yes," he answered. "Both Finn and Santana told me. I guess it is just really hard for me to admit that I was wrong about someone. I really did write you off as Quinn 2.0, but that was wrong of me. It is also really hard for me to forgive people. I can hold a grudge for a really long time."

"Tell me about it."

Kurt glared at her.

"Sorry."

"Anyway," Kurt continued. "I'm sorry. And I miss our friendship too."

"Aww, Kurt," Rachel said, tears welling up in her eyes.

Kurt laughed and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. "Ahhh, I missed this so much," he said. "Girl, I have so much to tell you."

"Blaine?" Rachel asked knowingly.

"Blaine," Kurt confirmed with a nod. "You want to make some popcorn, curl up on your bed, and gossip about boys?"

"Well, my bed is kind of occupied at the moment…"

Kurt cringed. "Oh g-d, I forgot about Finn up there," he said. "That is disgusting."

"We weren't doing anything, Kurt!" Rachel defended herself. "Just talking."

"Mhmm," Kurt replied skeptically and then smiled. "Okay, we'll just have to catch up some other time, then. Get back to my brother. I am sure he's tired of waiting for you."

Rachel smiled back at him, feeling the happiest that she had felt in a long time. Things were finally falling into place. "I love you, Kurt."

"I love you too, Rachel."

* * *

"I'm back!" Rachel called in a sing-song voice as she returned to her bedroom and closed the door gently behind her. She smiled at Finn, who was stretched out across her bed. "Did you miss me?"

He laughed. "Of course I did."

Rachel sighed happily as she climbed onto her bed and snuggled into Finn's side. "I am so happy right now. Like, genuinely happy. I feel like I could take on the world."

"You can take on the world, Rach."

Rachel giggled. "Thank you, Finn, but the past couple of years and especially these past couple of months, I've felt the complete opposite."

"Well, I'm glad that you're happy now," Finn told her. "When you're happy, I'm happy."

"Aww," Rachel gushed and kissed him on the cheek. "You are so sweet."

Finn grinned and then poked her in the side. "So," he said. "I'm guessing that you and Kurt are friends again?"

Rachel clapped her hands excitedly. "Yes!" she exclaimed. "That was Kurt at the door! We talked things over and now we're best friends again, isn't that amazing?"

"More than amazing," Finn replied. "Do you know how hard it is to have your step-brother hate your girlfriend? It sucks."

Rachel looked up at him. "Girlfriend?" she asked.

Finn blushed. "Is that okay?" he asked back. "I mean, I know we haven't really established what we are or anything, actually we've never really established what we are, even with what we had going on during the summer and stuff, you weren't my girlfriend, but you definitely just weren't a friend, and that's kind of how it is now, but I, um, I kind of overheard you and Kurt talking when I went to see what was taking you so long and I heard you tell him that we weren't official, and that got me thinking why aren't you my girlfriend, I mean there's nothing in the way this time and I love you and you love me and—"

Finn's ramblings were interrupted by Rachel pressing her lips to his. "Of course it's okay," she told him. "More than okay."

"Yeah?"

Rachel nodded. "Yes."

"Okay, then. You're my girlfriend."

"And you are my boyfriend."

A slow smile spread across Finn's face and he flipped them over so Rachel's back was to the bed and he was hovering over her. He leaned down and brushed his lips against hers in a feather light kiss. "Finally," he said, his voice filled with love for the girl underneath him.

Rachel smiled up at him, feeling like the happiest girl in the world. "Finally."

* * *

**awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww**

**:)**


	26. EPILOGUE

**This is it, you guys :'(**

**The is the first multi chapter story that I have finished and actually stuck with all the way until the end in a looooooonnnnnngggg time so I am kinda proud of myself and it and I just want to thank all of you that have stuck with it for this long (even through the hard beginning chapters when there was so little Finchel... sorry guys :P). I loved reading your reviews; they make me so happy :) I hope you guys will read whatever I come up with next. **

**Speaking of whatever I come up with next, I know I told you guys that I was gonna start a story about Rachel being a clinical psychologist and Finn being her client, but I don't think I am going to do that anymore. I don't want to offend anybody by writing about a mental illness that I really don't know much about other than what I learned in AP Pysch. Plus, it sounded good when I was coming up with the idea, but honestly? Other than a basic outline of what the storyline would be, I have no idea what I would write about. Maybe I'll write that story someday, maybe not. Sooo yeah.**

**I still have Unexpected Love to finish up though (another Finchel story, btw. If you haven't read it, you can find it on my profile... I started writing that back when I was pretty awful at writing sooo it might suck, lol. It's not as bad as some of my wayyyy earlier CSI NY stories though. Those are like... no. You can also find those on my profile if you want to laugh at their horrendous-ness haha) and I have some other story ideas that I might expand on. **

**Anyway... I guess this is it. Until next time! :D**

**DISCLAIMER - I don't own Glee or its characters.**

* * *

**uncovered**

**EPILOGUE:**

_Monday, November 5, 2012_

It was a month later and everything was going great.

When Finn and Rachel walked into school for the first time after officially becoming a couple, at first the student body at McKinley had mixed reactions. Some thought that it was terrible. Some thought it was great. Some didn't have a feeling on the matter at all. Mostly everyone was just shocked.

"Did you hear? Finn Hudson and Rachel Berry are dating. Like, they are a couple. Isn't that weird?"

"I can_not _believe Rachel would do that. Getting with your best friend's boyfriend a couple weeks after her death? That is _so _fucked up."

"I bet you eighty bucks that they were hooking up behind Quinn's back when she was alive."

"Good for her. What? Have you _seen _Finn? He is so cute."

"She is such a whore."

"Who cares if they were going behind Quinn's back? Quinn was a bitch. She deserved it."

"I'm happy for them. They look cute together."

"Oh come on. The boyfriend and the best friend of the dead girl falling in love after her death? That is _so _cliché."

Like Quinn said though, the students at their school were like goldfish. Eventually they lost interest and forgot that it was ever even a big deal. After about a week, everyone eventually moved on to the next scandal. Marie was pregnant!

* * *

"Rachel! Are you serious? You cannot quit the team now!" Santana exclaimed after Rachel turned in her Cheerios uniform and informed Santana that she was no longer a part of the squad.

"Santana, the only reason I was ever a Cheerio is because Quinn forced me to be one. I hate cheering," Rachel told her in response. "Besides, you should be happy. Now you can be captain."

"Rachel, we already lost Quinn and now Marie because she decided to go and get knocked up. We can't lose you too."

"I'm sorry, San," Rachel said with a sad smile. "I'm auditioning for the winter musical though and if I get the lead, which I will, there is no way that I'll have enough time to do both the musical and still be part of the Cheerios. It would be impossible to do."

Santana groaned. "Ughhhh, fine," she said. "But you owe me."

Rachel laughed and wrapped her arms around her friend in a hug. "You're the best, Santana."

"Yeah, yeah. I know."

* * *

_Tuesday, November 6, 2012_

Finn was leaning against the locker next to Rachel's while she got her things ready for the school day ahead of them.

"You are going to come support me at my audition, right?" Rachel asked him as she pulled out her Calculus textbook. "I will do amazingly no matter what, but it would still make me feel better if I knew you were sitting in the theatre cheering me on."

Finn laughed as he leaned down and gave her a quick kiss. "Of course I will, Rach," he told her. "And I'll be in the front row cheering for you on opening night too. I have no doubt about that because you are going to nail your audition and get the lead part. You're that awesome."

"Aww, thank you," Rachel replied and she stood on the toes of her feet so she could kiss him on his cheek, but was interrupted by Santana and Kurt walking up to them.

Kurt covered his eyes with his hand. "My eyes!"

Santana gaped at Rachel in horror. "What the hell is that?"

"What is what?" Rachel asked in bewilderment. She had no idea why they were acting so strangely.

"That… that _thing _on your body," Santana answered.

Rachel looked down at her beloved reindeer sweater. "It's a sweater."

"That is the most hideous thing I have ever seen," Santana told her. "Take it off."

"Yeah, I think I prefer the Cheerios uniform. And that is saying something because I much prefer you as a theatre geek than a Cheerio," Kurt added.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "I look fine. The both of you are overreacting."

"Okay, fine. If you want to walk around rocking that toddler/grandma hybrid look that you used to rock back in middle school, that's your problem," Santana said.

"I think she looks great," Finn interjected.

"Says the guy who thinks that puffy vests are still in style," Kurt retorted.

"Finn, she could be in a potato sack and you'd still say she looks great," Santana added.

"Calm down, you guys," Rachel said. "You don't need to worry. I'm not going to revert back to my old style. Even I have to admit, I used to wear some pretty out-there clothing. I'm just not going to dress like Quinn forced me to. It'll be more adult, but still Rachel Berry. I'll still be me."

"Okay, fair enough. But your excuse for pulling out that revolting sweater?" Kurt asked.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "It's not revolting," she told him. "And I don't know, I was just feeling sentimental this morning."

"Wait, Rachel, why _aren_'t you in your Cheerios uniform?" Finn asked her. "I didn't even notice that until now."

"I quit the team," Rachel told him.

"Oh," Finn replied. He pouted. "Awww, now you can't cheer for me at my games."

Rachel giggled. "Finn, I don't need a Cheerio uniform to cheer for you," she reassured him. "I'm already working on a Team Finn t-shirt to wear at your football game on Friday."

"I could've just given you my jersey," Finn pointed out.

"Does your jersey have gold stars on it?" Rachel asked.

"No…"

"Okay, then."

* * *

_Friday, November 9, 2012_

"Have fun you crazy kids!" Puck called after Finn and Rachel as they left the after party to celebrate the Titans' win in the football game that night. "Don't forget to use protection! And drive safely! Oh, and don't do anything that I wouldn't do!"

Finn silenced him with his middle finger as he held the door of his truck open for Rachel. She laughed. "I think Noah had a little too much to drink tonight."

"He has a little too much to drink at every party he goes to, Rach," Finn said as he closed the door behind her, got in the driver's seat, and drove off.

"Hey Finn?" Rachel asked, her voice suddenly laced with sadness.

Finn glanced over at her in concern before returning his attention back to the road. "Yeah?"

"Quinn's parents, um, they dropped a box of some of Quinn's things off at my house before I left to go to your game," Rachel told him.

Finn's brow furrowed. "Is that why you seemed kind of sad earlier?" he asked.

Rachel nodded. "Yes," she answered. "Most of it was pictures of the two of us and friendship bracelets and stuff like that, but there were also a bundle of diaries. I started to read through them, but it just became too much."

Finn took her hand in his. "Aww, Rach…"

"I was just wondering if you would read them with me," Rachel said. "I, um, I don't think I can do it alone. And I know it'd be hard for you too, so you don't have to agree, I just wanted to ask."

"No, of course I will, Rach," Finn told her. "Of course I'll read them with you."

* * *

Finn and Rachel were sitting cross-legged next to each other on Rachel's bed with Quinn's diaries laid out in front of them. Rachel picked up a Pepto-Bismol pink one decorated with yellow butterflies. "There is a diary for each school year from eighth grade to twelfth," she told Finn. "This is the earliest one so let's start with it."

* * *

_** Aug 16 2008**_

_**Dear Diary,**_

_**I got this incredibly hideous diary for my birthday a couple months ago, but I decided to wait until now to start writing in it so that I could detail my eighth grade year. I start the eighth grade in two days and I am so excited. My last year of middle school. Finally! After this year comes the fun part: High school. Boys, parties, alcohol… boys. I can't wait. **_

_**I was kind of not looking forward to this school year because Daddy got a new position as CEO and we had to move to the middle of nowhere . Lima, Ohio, but I found myself a new best friend and together we are going to rule Lima Middle School. It is inevitable. Now that Rachel has a new look and a new attitude and isn't so blabbing to everyone about moving to New York and being on Broadway, she is totally hot! And I am beautiful and rich and everyone loves me so of course we are going to be at the top of the social ladder. And once I make my mark as the top bitch, when I get to high school everyone at McKinley will know what is up.**_

* * *

_** Dec 26 2010**_

_**Dear Diary, **_

_**My parents officially suck. They spent all of Christmas arguing and being major assholes to each other and spent absolutely zero attention to me. Best. Christmas. Ever. (NOT.)**_

* * *

_** Jan 5 2011**_

_**Dear Diary, **_

_**So, as it turns out, the reason my parents have been fighting so much is because Daddy is cheating on Mom with his secretary. How cliché. She's not even that pretty! **_

_**I haven't told anybody yet (not even Rachel!) because I don't want them to think that my family is fucked up. Plus, I'm pretty sure that Mom isn't going to leave Daddy. Why would she? He gives her whatever she wants. **_

_**Anyway…**_

_**I have my eye on this guy named Finn. He is so cute. Tall, gorgeous, sweet… and he is the quarterback of the varsity football team! Now that I am captain of the Cheerios (thanks Daddy! *muah*), it would make perfect sense for us to be together. Watch, he'll be my boyfriend by the end of this month. Count on it.**_

* * *

_** Jan 21 2011**_

_**Dear Diary, **_

_**Rachel is pissed at me. She won't say it to my face, but I can tell. We've been like two peas in pod since I took her under my wing in eighth grade. I don't care though. She doesn't understand the pressure that I am under. Being Cheerio captain as a sophomore is hard work! No one gives me the respect that I deserve. Plus, Puckerman is being a total ass and always trying to get in Rachel's pants even though he is sooo not worthy of me which means he is not worthy of her because whoever associates with her, associates with me. Also, my parents are being idiots again. I don't understand why they don't just get a divorce if they hate each other so fucking much.**_

_**On the bright side, Finn asked me to be his girlfriend today! So. Happy. :D**_

* * *

_** July 29 2011**_

_**Dear Diary, **_

_**I feel kind of bad about taking Rachel's spot in the summer musical. She is obviously so much better than me at it. But that is exactly why I can't let her be the lead! Rachel is so pretty (thanks to me), and smart, and she is a great cheerleader… I can't let her outshine me on the stage! I have to be the superior one of the pair. That is how our friendship works.**_

_**She'll do great on Broadway one day, but until then… she has to step back and let me have the spotlight.**_

_**Sorry, Rachie.**_

* * *

_** Sept 4 2012**_

_**Dear Diary, **_

_**I got back from Florida a couple weeks ago and both Finn and Rachel are acting super weird. I can't handle it. I feel like things are getting out of control. I have to be in control! Finn is supposed to be MY boyfriend and love ME but I think he might be in love with Rachel (insane, right?) Maybe I am just being paranoid. Things hadn't been that great between us and leaving for the entire summer probably didn't help things. Plus, I think I might like Puck which is gross on so many levels. **_

* * *

_** Sept 22 2012**_

_**Dear Diary,**_

_**Rachel slept with Finn.**_

_**And I slept with Puck.**_

_**Finn and I almost broke up.**_

_**also i think i might be pregnant**_

* * *

Rachel closed the diary and placed it back in the box with all of Quinn's things. "That's the last one."

Finn closed his eyes and took in a deep breath to steady himself. "That was hard," he said. "It was like she was here… talking to us."

Rachel nodded in agreement. "I know," she said, wiping away a tear. "I miss her."

"Yeah," Finn agreed. "I miss her too."

Rachel taped the box back up and slid it under her bed. She climbed back on her bed and curled into Finn's side. "Do you think she's watching us right now?" she asked.

"I don't know," Finn answered. "If she is, do you think she'd be pissed that we're together or happy for us?"

"I don't know," Rachel told him. "I feel like Quinn did love us both, in her own Quinn way, and she'd want us to be happy, but… with each other? Probably not."

Finn laughed a little. "She is probably taking out her anger on some poor little soul wherever she is."

Rachel giggled. "I feel bad for them." She sighed and then pressed her lips to Finn's cheek. "Even though I am sad that Quinn isn't here anymore, I'm happy that we ended up together. Does that make me a horrible person?"

"It's not like you wanted Quinn to die, Rachel," Finn told her. "Besides, I think we would have ended up together no matter what, even if Quinn was still here. I loved you too much to have given up on you. I still do."

**THE END**


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